Overview

• The first week of negotiations fell behind schedule, leaving delegates with little clear treaty text and just two days to reach an agreement
• Rival blocs remain entrenched over whether to impose binding caps on virgin plastic production and toxic additives or focus solely on product design, recycling and waste management
• The European Union and High Ambition Coalition insist on upstream controls while the Like-Minded Group of oil-producing states continues to oppose production limits
• More than 234 fossil-fuel and chemical industry lobbyists are registered at the talks, prompting NGOs to warn that industry influence is skewing the process
• Civil-society groups and representatives of small island states are publicly urging delegates to call votes if consensus fails to prevent a weak or no treaty outcome