A global meeting in South Korea’s Busan to finalise a treaty to combat plastic pollution concluded yesterday without an agreement. This was the fifth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, which has been working since 2022 to draft a legally binding treaty on plastic pollution.

The week-long talks exposed deep divisions between countries calling for limits on plastic production and harmful chemicals and those focusing only on managing plastic waste. Negotiators from nearly 200 nations held closed-door discussions to bridge differences on key issues, but the draft released yesterday left most concerns unresolved. The most contentious issue of the talks has been whether there will be a limit on the amount of plastic that companies are allowed to produce.

The countries have now agreed to reconvene next year to continue the negotiations.