The EU warns of difficulties in reaching a global plastic agreement by the end of the year.
Production caps for plastics face opposition from countries like Saudi Arabia and China.
Greenpeace calls for a strong agreement that covers the entire lifecycle of plastics.
EU Warns of Challenges in Finalizing a Global Plastic Agreement.
The European Union has indicated that it will be "very difficult" to reach an agreement on a global treaty to combat plastic pollution by the end of this year. This is the clearest sign yet that the talks, which began in 2022 and have been beset by divisions over production caps for plastics, may fail to reach a resolution by the final meeting in Busan, South Korea, in November.
Around 60 countries, including EU members, are demanding production caps in the treaty. However, some countries, like Saudi Arabia and China, which are major producers of the petrochemicals necessary for plastic production, oppose such measures.
"At the current pace, it will be very difficult to close the negotiations at INC5 in November," said Virginijus Sinkevicius, head of the European Commission's environment department, to EU environment ministers at a meeting this week.
INC5 (Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee 5) is the last of five scheduled negotiation rounds announced after the United Nations approved a landmark agreement to create the treaty in March 2022.
The UN hailed the agreement to begin negotiations as the most significant environmental deal since the 2015 Paris climate accord, aiming to tackle a source of pollution that spans from ocean trenches to mountain tops and poses risks to wildlife and human health.
If countries cannot reach a deal in Busan, they would need to agree to extend the talks into next year and beyond.
A Japanese official involved in the talks told Reuters that some nations are eager to try and reach a basic, high-level treaty in Busan that could be strengthened via future amendments and protocols. This is partly due to concerns about the potential return of Donald Trump to the White House next year, which could see a rollback of climate policies and dampen global enthusiasm for future treaty negotiations, the official said anonymously.
Graham Forbes, head of the delegation for environmental pressure group Greenpeace in the talks, said extending negotiations was better than agreeing to a weak deal. "We need a framework that sets us on a trajectory towards a much more sustainable relationship with petrochemicals and plastics," he said. "Trump or no Trump, we need an agreement that covers the full lifecycle of plastics."
