UN Sets Date for New Talks on a Global Plastics Treaty

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) announced Monday a new round of talks on a global treaty to limit plastic waste after the last negotiations in December ended in stalemate.

Members of groups participating in the talks as official observers told Newsweek that U.N. environmental officials have set the next round of talks for August 5 to 14 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Officially known as the International Negotiating Committee 5.2, the talks will bring together national negotiating representatives as well as observers from industry and nonprofit groups with expertise in public health, environmental justice and marine science.

The talks could be the culmination of years of work to get global agreement on a plan to rein in the plastic pollution that is killing marine wildlife, harming human health and warming the planet.

Scientists estimate a garbage truck’s worth of plastic waste enters the oceans every minute, where large debris threatens fish, sea turtles and marine mammals with entanglement and smaller plastics enter the ocean food web.

Health researchers are raising concerns about the health impacts of many chemicals used in plastics production and the accumulation of microplastics in our bodies.

The petrochemical facilities that produce plastics and their component materials can also present pollution threats to neighboring communities and emit large amounts of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.

At a Newsweek Horizons event in December, a panel of experts reflected on the last round of U.N. talks in Busan, South Korea, and what’s at stake in the next negotiations.

Despite calls by nearly 100 countries to limit harmful plastic products and chemicals, the South Korea talks ended without consensus for a global treaty. However, panelists representing environmental groups, industry and health research institutions agreed that the talks were not a failure.

“We would rather have a little bit more time to get a really strong treaty with global obligations than a weak and watered-down treaty,” Mars Global Vice President of Packaging Sustainability Allison Lin said in the December panel discussion.

Panelist Dr. Leonardo Trasande, who directs the NYU Center for the Investigation of Environmental Hazards, agreed.

“I’m glad the treaty process is stalled because we are going to have a better treaty if we work out our issues,” Trasande said. “Ultimately, we need independent science to carry the day.”

Panelists discussed ways to reduce plastic waste through product design improvements, more financing for waste management systems and increased recycling. But one policy approach emerged as most critical: a reduction in the total amount of global plastic production. That was the key sticking point in the South Korea talks.

The next treaty talks in Geneva will also take place with a new presidential administration in the U.S. While President Joe Biden’s environmental officials had embraced a cap on plastic production, President Donald Trump’s more industry-friendly team is unlikely to follow that policy.

While many countries, states and major companies have taken steps to ban problematic plastics and set ambitious goals for waste reduction, the collective effort is still falling far short of what’s needed to stem the tide of plastic waste.

A report released in November by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation found that despite progress among signatories to its Global Commitment on plastic waste, many signatories are “likely to miss key 2025 targets.”