Plastic pollution

Nations have started a crucial meeting to finalize a treaty to tackle the global plastic pollution crisis. Tuesday's meeting is the sixth and possibly final negotiation round. A major debate is whether to cut plastic production, with oil-producing countries opposing it. They argue that redesign, recycling, and reuse can solve the issue. Others, including some major companies, disagree. The United Nations Environment Programme highlights the urgency, noting millions of tons of plastic waste enter aquatic ecosystems annually. The U.S. opposes global production caps, focusing on waste management and recycling. The meeting in Geneva involves thousands of participants and aims to create a binding agreement.

Talks on a treaty to address the global crisis of plastic pollution in Geneva ended without an agreement Friday. The session was adjourned and will be resumed at a later date. Nations were meeting for an 11th day at the United Nations office to try to complete a landmark treaty to end the plastic pollution crisis. They remain deadlocked over whether the treaty should reduce exponential growth of plastic production and put global, legally binding controls on toxic chemicals used to make plastics. The negotiations at the U.N. hub were supposed to be the last round and produce the first legally binding treaty on plastic pollution, including in the oceans.