Negotiators fail to reach an agreement on a plastic pollution treaty. Talks to resume next year

Negotiators working on a treaty to address the global crisis of plastic pollution for a week in South Korea won’t reach an agreement and plan to resume the talks next year.

They are at an impasse over whether the treaty should reduce the total plastic on Earth and put global, legally binding controls on toxic chemicals used to make plastics.

The negotiations in Busan, South Korea, were supposed to be the fifth and final round to produce the first legally binding treaty on plastics pollution, including in the oceans, by the end of 2024. But with time running out early Monday, negotiators agreed to resume the talks next year. They don’t yet have firm plans.

Most of the negotiations in Busan took place behind closed doors. Environmental groups, Indigenous leaders, communities impacted by plastic pollution and scientists who traveled to Busan to help shape the treaty said it should’ve been transparent and they felt silenced.

“To a large degree, this is why the negotiation process is failing,” said Bjorn Beeler, international coordinator for the International Pollutants Elimination Network. “Busan proved that the process is broken and just hobbling along.”

Rad the full AP story here.