Delegations from 185 countries gathered in Geneva failed overnight to agree on a binding text to combat worsening plastic pollution worldwide.

“We will not have a plastics pollution treaty here in Geneva,” concluded Norway’s representative during the plenary session early this morning.

Earlier, India and Uruguay stressed the impossibility of “reaching consensus” among the negotiators.

A newly drafted text with compromise proposals, presented the previous evening, still contained more than 100 points requiring clarification despite 10 days of intensive negotiations, during which delegation heads at an informal meeting in Geneva were unable to reach an agreement.

French Environment Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher stated at the end of the meeting that she was “outraged that, despite the genuine efforts of many and the real progress made in the negotiations, no tangible results were achieved.”

Clearly alluding to oil-producing countries, Colombian delegate Hendel Rodríguez said that reaching an agreement “was blocked by a small number of states that simply did not want a deal.”

The future of the negotiations remains uncertain, as deep divisions persist between the two opposing camps on this issue.

The “ambitious” countries — including the EU, Canada, Australia, and many nations in Latin America and Africa — want to rid the planet of plastic and, above all, reduce global plastic production.

They are opposed by countries, mainly oil producers, that reject any commitments regarding hydrocarbon production — the foundation of the plastics industry — as well as any bans on hazardous molecules or additives. Source: APE-MPA