Plastic Pollution Treaty Talks End Without Agreement

Negotiators working on a treaty to tackle the global plastic pollution crisis concluded talks on Friday without reaching an agreement.

Delegates, who worked through the night in an extended session at the United Nations office in Geneva, say they failed to find an "acceptable outcome", The Caspian Post reports citing foreign media.

They remain deadlocked over whether the treaty should reduce the exponential growth of plastic production and put global, legally binding controls on toxic chemicals used to make plastics.

Oil and gas-producing nations and the plastics industry oppose production limits, instead calling for a treaty focused on better waste management and reuse.

"We are sorry to see that we, despite your efforts to bring us closer, will not be able to finalise negotiations on an acceptable outcome. We now have to explore our options going forward," said Andreas Bjelland Eriksen, Minister of Climate and the Environment of Norway.

This round of negotiations was supposed to be the final round, and to produce the first legally binding treaty on plastic pollution, including in the oceans.

But just like at the last meeting in South Korea last year, they're leaving without a treaty.

Two drafts were proposed by the chair of the negotiation committee, but the representatives from 184 countries did not agree to use either one as the basis for the negotiations.

No further action is being proposed at this stage on the latest draft, and next steps have not been decided yet, as delegates continue to meet on Friday.European Commissioner Jessika Roswall said the European Union and its member states had higher expectations for this meeting, and while the draft falls short of their demands, it provides a good basis for further negotiating sessions.

"The Earth is not ours only," she said. We are stewards for those who come after us. Let us fulfill that duty."