6 days ago
Campaigners Hopeful As Plastic Treaty Negotiations Set To Resume
EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 29: Surfers walk near debris including a plastic bottle washed up ... More on the beach by large waves on December 29, 2023 in El Segundo, California. Dangerous surf churned up by storms in the Pacific is impacting much of California's coastline with coastal flooding possible in some low-lying areas. (Photo by)
Delegates and observers from around the world will gather next month in Geneva, Switzerland, for the next round of negotiations for a global treaty to tackle plastic pollution.
The negotiations started in 2022, after more than 170 nations backed a historic UN resolution to end plastic pollution, with an international legally binding agreement.
The talks initially concluded in December 2024, when no agreement was reached.
Next month's meeting in Geneva will be the first-time negotiators have met since last year, but the question remains – will there be a breakthrough or not?
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation's executive lead for plastics and finance, Rob Opsomer said he was hopeful for the next round of talks, in an interview.
Opsomer added governments have really engaged and more preparatory work has been done since the last round in South Korea, which finished in December 2024 without a final agreement.
He said there have been a number of major multilateral environmental deals agreed in the last six months, including the International Maritime Organisation deal on net-zero regulations for global shipping, a global strategy to finance biodiversity and a global science-policy panel on chemicals, waste and pollution.
'All of these are quite difficult and politically charged topics, and all of these have come to an agreement in the first half of 2025,' he told me.
'These agreements have shown that it is possible for multilateralism to deliver in the current world climate.'
And in June, more than 90 governments around the world signed a joint declaration for an 'effective and ambitious' global plastic pollution treaty.
Opsomer added one of the biggest points of contention at the next round of negotiations will be around reducing the amount of virgin plastics produced every year, with a large group of countries insisting it be part of the final agreement.
He said another key sticking point will be around limiting the use of 'chemicals of concern' and financing arrangements for low-income countries.
But Opsomer added there is a more common ground around the harmonization of product design.
He said a more standardised approach would mean items like plastic bottles become more economically viable to collect, sort and reprocess.
'What we really are aiming for in Geneva this summer is an agreement, which has all the key elements and should be an agreement across the full life cycle of plastics, and which sets us up a process that can be strengthened over time,' added Opsomer.
The WWF's vice president for plastic waste and business, Erin Simon said it wants member states to come together and finish what they started in 2022, in an email.
Simon added countries need to agree on the language for a treaty, so the world can work together to finally end plastic pollution.
'Leaders need to find common ground and put country interest aside, while finding ways to maximize their collective power,' she told me.
'The treaty should include key elements and agreement on where alignment matters most – including defining what is problematic and how to make products moving forward, as well as capacity building and a plan for financing this major shift.'
And the chairman and chief executive of S.C. Johnson, Dr. Fisk Johnson said plastic leaking into the environment is a huge planetary issue that affects us all, in a statement.
Dr. Johnson added government regulation is crucial to tackling the plastic pollution crisis and voluntary efforts, while well-meaning, can only go so far.
He said he hoped the new negotiations would lead to a broad agreement on some basic things and there is a mechanism in place to strengthen the treaty over time.
'If we miss the opportunity to reach even the most rudimentary agreement, I fear it will be years before things get started again, and by then we will have lost way too much ground,' said Dr. Johnson.
