United Nations member countries failed to reach an agreement on a global plastics pollution treaty by their original end-of-2024 deadline, extending negotiations into next year where a second Trump administration will shape U.S. policy positions.
Negotiators from more than 170 nations ended what was supposed to be the fifth and final round of talks in Busan, South Korea, with a commitment to reconvene on a yet-to-be-decided schedule. Key issues still without consensus include plastic production caps, binding controls on chemicals of concern, managing plastic products and financial mechanisms.
More than 100 countries refused to settle for a “weak” proposal that did not limit plastic production, but oil-rich nations led by Saudi Arabia have resisted any measures that would reduce production.
Biden administration officials had adopted a middleman approach intent on compromise by pushing for a treaty that does not mention production caps and lets countries pick and choose how they want to address identified problematic products and chemicals.
