Overview

• United Nations Secretary‑General António Guterres expressed regret at the failure to reach consensus and UNEP’s Inger Andersen said the agency will continue work against plastic pollution.
• Negotiations faltered over whether to cap virgin plastic production, opposed mainly by oil‑producing states, or to focus the agreement on downstream waste management.
• INC chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso said countries will work to identify a date and venue for another meeting, but none was confirmed when the Geneva session closed.
• A business coalition of 300‑plus companies, including Unilever, L’Oréal and Estée Lauder, urged governments to consider all options to secure harmonised, lifecycle‑wide regulations, saying voluntary efforts are insufficient.
• Observers cited procedural shortcomings, delay tactics and a pared‑back draft that stripped out production limits, chemical controls and a human‑health article, while several governments pledged to advance domestic measures in the interim.