Global plastics pact stalls, petroleum producers reject plastic reduction

MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 2025

Many nations voiced deep disappointment and proposed shifting from consensus to majority voting to break the deadlock in plastics treaty talks.

The fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2) on a global plastics treaty has ended in Geneva on August 14 without an agreement, despite running for 11 days and being billed as the final round of talks.

The proposed treaty, seen as the central instrument to tackle the global plastic pollution crisis, remains stalled. Delegates could not reach a consensus on whether the treaty should include legally binding measures to curb the soaring production of plastics and regulate toxic chemicals used in their manufacture.

Representatives from Norway, Australia, Tuvalu and several other countries expressed deep disappointment at leaving Geneva without a deal.

“We came to Geneva to achieve a global plastics treaty because we know the stakes are too high to fail,” Jessika Roswall, European Commissioner for Environment, Water Restoration and Competitive Circular Economy, wrote on social media. She added that the EU would continue to push for a stronger, legally binding agreement.

France’s Minister for Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, voiced her frustration in stronger terms: “I am disappointed and angry. A handful of countries prioritised short-term financial interests over public health and long-term economic sustainability. They blocked a treaty that would have squarely addressed plastic pollution, despite overwhelming scientific and medical evidence that plastics kill people, poison our oceans and soils, and ultimately contaminate our bodies.”

The collapse of the Geneva round leaves the future of a global plastics treaty uncertain, with environmental advocates warning that further delays will only worsen the crisis.

Global plastics pact stalls, petroleum producers reject plastic reduction

During the talks, representatives from 100 countries across all continents, both developed and developing, pushed hard to include provisions to reduce plastic production and regulate the chemicals used in manufacturing.

However, negotiators from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait argued that the latest draft leaned too heavily on the views of other countries and insisted that plastic production fell outside the treaty’s scope.

Because all provisions must be agreed by consensus, the objections meant these measures could not be included, leading to the collapse of the round, a repeat of what happened in South Korea in 2024.

Committee chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso presented two draft versions of the treaty in Geneva, based on feedback from member states. The drafts stopped short of capping plastic production but acknowledged that current levels of production and consumption are “unsustainable” and that global action is required. New language added that plastic use has already exceeded the world’s waste management capacity and is projected to rise further, calling for “a coordinated global response to halt and reverse this trend.”

The treaty’s stated objective was also revised to cover the entire life cycle of plastics, including reducing products containing “chemicals of concern for human health or the environment” and curbing single-use and short-lived plastics.

When no agreement could be reached, the committee chair struck the gavel to adjourn the session, announcing that negotiations would be postponed and resumed at a later date.

David Azoulay, Director of the Health Programme and head of delegation at the Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL), described the outcome of the Geneva negotiations as a “complete failure.”

“In the final hours of the talks, it became clear what many of us had long suspected: some countries did not come here to finalise a text. They came here to do the opposite, to block any effort to advance a legally binding treaty,” Azoulay said in a statement.

He added that there was “no way to convince those trying to defend their vested interests to align with the majority who seek a functional treaty that could strengthen long-term global action.”

Petrochemical and plastics producers, including India, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait and Vietnam, were among the countries opposing key provisions. They argued that consensus, requiring unanimous approval, was necessary to ensure an effective treaty. But as this proved increasingly difficult, other nations began calling for the process to shift towards majority voting if required.

CIEL also flagged the heavy influence of industry at the talks, revealing that 234 lobbyists from the oil, petrochemical and plastics sectors registered to attend. This number was larger than the combined delegations of all 27 EU member states, and far greater than the participation of scientists or Indigenous representatives.

Investigations also revealed that 19 lobbyists were embedded within national delegations, including those of Egypt, Kazakhstan, China, Iran, Chile, and the Dominican Republic.

“We have decades of evidence showing the fossil fuel and chemical industries’ playbook: deny, distract, and obstruct,” said Ximena Banegas, Global Plastics and Petrochemicals Campaigner at CIEL. “Fossil fuel companies are at the heart of plastic production; over 99% of plastics are derived from fossil fuel-based chemicals. After decades of obstruction in climate negotiations, why would anyone believe they are showing up in good faith to negotiate a plastics treaty?”

Graham Forbes, head of Greenpeace’s Geneva delegation, called on countries to switch from consensus to majority voting: “We are going in circles. We cannot keep doing the same thing and expect different results.”

This echoed the warning from CIEL’s Azoulay, who stressed that continuing negotiations without procedural reform would only end in repeated failure. “We need a fresh start, not more of the same. Countries that want a treaty should move forward and establish a voluntary agreement, with voting options that prevent the authoritarian veto of consensus we have witnessed,” he said.