Overview

• Negotiations on the final draft UN plastics treaty in Geneva are deadlocked with 184 countries unable to agree on binding production limits and chemical controls.
• The EU, Panama, Chile and Mexico rejected the latest draft as unacceptable for lacking enforceable obligations.
• Oil-exporting states, notably Gulf countries, Russia and the United States, have led efforts to remove binding lifecycle and production cap measures.
• Delegates warn that without binding caps on plastic production and hazardous additive regulations, the conference risks producing a weakest-common-denominator text or failing entirely by Thursday’s deadline.
• Observers say that if consensus cannot be reached, a coalition of high-ambition states may pursue a separate agreement to secure more stringent measures.