Plastic pollution treaty stalled as Geneva talks end without deal
(VOVWORLD) - Delegates discussing the world's first legally binding treaty to tackle plastic pollution failed to reach consensus, diplomats said on Friday, voicing disappointment and even rage that the 10-day talks produced no deal.
 Plastic polluting a mangrove area lies in Panama Bay, Panama City, Panama December 6, 2024. (REUTERS/Enea Lebrun/File Photo) |
Delegates had been seeking a breakthrough in the deadlocked United Nations' talks in Geneva, but states pushing for an ambitious treaty said that the latest text released overnight failed to meet their expectations.
The chair of the negotiations Ecuador's Luis Vayas Valdivieso adjourned the session with a pledge to resume talks at an undetermined later date.
French ecology minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher told the meeting's closing session that she was "enraged because despite genuine efforts by many, and real progress in discussions, no tangible results have been obtained."
Diplomats and climate advocates had warned earlier this month that efforts by the European Union and small island states to cap virgin plastic production - fuelled by petroleum, coal and gas - faced opposition from petrochemical-producing countries and the US.