UN plastic treaty talks end without a deal

BUSAN, South Korea — The chair presiding over global plastic treaty negotiations proposed suspending the talks until a later date Sunday, as negotiators ran out of time to clinch a deal this year.

It was a disappointing end to the United Nations-convened summit that many hoped would result in a landmark treaty to tackle the worsening global plastic pollution crisis.

“While it is encouraging that portions of the text have been agreed upon, we must also recognize that a few critical issues still prevent us from reaching a comprehensive agreement,” said the chair presiding over the talks, Luis Vayas.

“These unresolved issues remain challenging and additional time will be needed to address them effectively.”

This week’s meeting in Busan, South Korea, was meant to be the culmination of two years of talks, with U.N. member states having previously agreed to “forge an internationally binding agreement by 2024.”

But hopes of an agreement were scuppered when countries failed to resolve their differences over whether to reduce plastic production, whether and how to phase out problematic plastic products and chemicals of concern in plastic products, and how to finance the legal instrument.

Saudi Arabia and Russia led a group of oil-rich and plastic-producing countries — self-named the “like-minded group” — blocking any proposals for the treaty that threatened to reduce plastic production. The vast majority of plastic is made from oil or natural gas.