Countries divided as UN talks on pact to curb plastics start

Fifth round of talks plagued by differences between producers, those hit by pollution

As delegates from 175 countries gathered in Busan, South Korea, on Nov 25 for the fifth round of talks aimed at securing an international treaty to curb plastic pollution, lingering divisions cast doubts on whether a final agreement is in sight.

South Korea is hosting the fifth and ostensibly final UN Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) meeting this week, after the previous round of talks in Ottawa, Canada, in April ended without a path forward on capping plastic production.

Instead, talks will be focused on chemicals of concern and other measures, after petrochemical-producing nations such as Saudi Arabia and China strongly opposed efforts to target plastic production over the protests of countries that bear the brunt of such pollution.

The divisions plaguing plastics treaty talks echo conflicts that have long stalled United Nations efforts to curb global warming, with the most recent climate summit, COP29, having just ended with an agreement that poorer nations assailed as inadequate.

INC chairman Luis Vayas Valdivieso told reporters on Nov 25 that he was confident this week's negotiations would yield a treaty or a text leading to one.

"Without significant intervention, the amount of plastic entering the environment annually by 2040 is expected to nearly double compared with 2022," he said at the opening session in Busan.