World leaders refuse to stop the plastic invasion: negotiations are headed for failure, with the US blocking the deal and 200 lobbies at the table.

It started badly, and it risks ending worse. Hope is fading that the final phase of talks on the United Nations Plastics Treaty, which began in Geneva , Switzerland, and is scheduled to run until August 14, will truly lead to a strong and effective global pact to address the urgent problem of plastic pollution. Under the aegis of the UN and after three years of negotiations, representatives of 184 countries have just a handful of days to reach a legally binding text . It is estimated that over 460 million tons of plastic are produced worldwide every year, approximately 75 percent of which ends up as waste, invading oceans and ecosystems. And, according to the UN, annual production could double to 884 million tons by 2050 . But according to some estimates, it could even triple by 2060. Yet many factors seem to be working against it; for Europe, even the 15% US tariff on commercial exports could pose a problem. At the end of July, the United States sent letters to a group of countries, urging them to reject the goal of a global pact that would include limits on plastic production and chemical additives. In fact, a bloc of countries in Geneva is adamant on this point. Furthermore, over 200 industry lobbyists are attending the meeting, around twenty of whom are part of the national delegations from Egypt, Kazakhstan, China, Iran, Chile, and the Dominican Republic. Moreover, over 99% of plastic is derived from chemicals derived from fossil fuels. In other words, while oil and gas companies are the lifeblood of plastic production, plastic itself has particularly kept the oil sector afloat, even in times more favorable to decarbonization. This has always been a factor, even in the other five sessions held so far.

The Global Plastics Treaty: From the 2022 Resolution to the Busan Failure – The negotiations, in fact, follow the resolution adopted in 2022 by the United Nations Environment Assembly , which called for a global approach capable of addressing the entire life cycle of plastic: from production to design, to disposal. The final session, held in December 2024 in Busan , South Korea, was supposed to conclude the work, but a bloc of oil-producing countries opposed attempts to limit plastic production, causing the process to stall . This clear division has monopolized the entire process, creating a rift between countries that believe redesign, recycling, and reuse can solve the problem, and others and some large companies that believe this is not enough. The negotiations were therefore adjourned and it was decided to continue work with a second part of the fifth round of negotiations, officially called ' Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee 5.2 '. The starting point of the talks was the 'President's Text', a document resulting from previous sessions which includes around 300 points which are still the subject of disagreement .

Negotiations stalled again and the European Union's position – So much so that in the first days of the Geneva session, negotiations remained stalled. A "dialogue of the deaf, with very few landing zones," sources inside and outside the talks told AFP. "I see no progress," commented a diplomatic source from a country in the most ambitious coalition. Around 100 countries are pushing for a binding treaty that would require production reductions. Among them is the 52-nation African bloc, led by Ghana , which, however, recently had to deal with the death of its Environment Minister, Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed , in a helicopter crash. On the other side, the group of Arab countries , Russia , Iran , Kazakhstan , and Malaysia reject any measure in this direction. Most of these countries are pushing for the agreement to focus exclusively on downstream activities: waste collection, sorting, and recycling. But the initial resolution, universally adopted and which launched negotiations for the treaty, envisaged an agreement covering the entire life cycle of plastic. And Europe? The EU Commissioner for the Environment, Jessika Roswall , will be present in Geneva on August 12. The European Union is part of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution , which unites 70 countries engaged in negotiations to end plastic pollution by 2040. Its members include, among others, Rwanda , Norway , Sweden , Finland , Denmark , Canada , Spain , France , Japan , and South Korea . It is also true, however, that the 15% US tariffs on steel and aluminum products could push companies to produce more plastic (as Coca-Cola had already suggested).

Pressure from the US and oil & gas lobbies – But other pressures have also come and continue to come from the US. According to Reuters, the United States has sent letters (dated July 25) to a group of countries, urging them to reject the goal of a global pact that would include limits on plastic production and chemical additives, in opposition to the states supporting the new restrictions. The message is clear: Washington will not accept a binding global treaty that requires production cuts. Behind this position lies the close relationship between Trump and the US industry. In fact, the US association representing the plastics industry, Plastics , was very supportive of President Trump's signing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act , which includes tax breaks for companies and a series of measures that favor the fossil fuel industry ( Read more ). It must be said that even under the Biden administration, during the three years of negotiations, the United States never favored ambitious solutions that included cuts in plastic production. And so, in Geneva , the 234 lobbyists from the oil, petrochemical, and plastics sectors (outnumbering the delegations from all 27 EU member states) are now present under the best of auspices, as an analysis by the Center for International Environmental Law (Ciel) reports. In recent days, Greenpeace also published a report showing that since the beginning of the negotiations, seven large petrochemical companies (the list also includes Dow , ExxonMobil , and Shell ) have increased their plastic production capacity by 1.4 million tons.

The need to reach an agreement quickly – The number one enemy is microplastics ( Read the in-depth article ). In recent days, just in view of the start of negotiations, the scientific journal 'The Lancet' issued a warning about the damage that plastic causes "at every stage of its life cycle – in production, use and disposal – and at every stage of human life", promoting the 'Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics' , a project to independently monitor the impact on health and progress in combating the pollutant, launched with Boston College, the German University of Heidelberg , the Centre Scientifique de Monaco and the Australian Minderoo Foundation , which will monitor the public and private interventions implemented to achieve the objectives set by the UN treaty. The first indicator report is due in mid-2026. According to estimates, approximately 8 billion tons of plastic waste pollutes the planet . Micro- and nanoparticles, as well as numerous resulting chemicals, have been intercepted in the most remote areas and in the organisms of marine and terrestrial species worldwide, including humans. Of all plastic waste produced, 15% is collected for recycling, but only 9% is actually recycled. Nearly half, or 46%, ends up in landfills , while 17% is incinerated and 22% is mismanaged and returned to waste. This invasion causes illness and death, as well as health-related economic losses of over $1.5 trillion annually . Yet, experts have highlighted, there is a significant lack of information on the chemicals present in plastics, their production volumes, uses, and toxicity. According to experts, 75% of the chemicals in plastics have never been tested for safety.