GENEVA — The collapse of a sixth round of UN talks last week aimed at curbing plastic output has dimmed hopes of tackling a key source of pollution and left many advocates of restrictions pessimistic about a global deal during the Trump administration.
A three-year global push to reach a legally-binding treaty to curb plastic pollution choking the oceans and harming human health now appears adrift, participants said.
Many states and campaigners blamed the failure on oil-producers including the United States, which they said hardened long-held positions and urged others to reject caps on new plastic production that would have curbed output of polymers.
Debbra Cisneros, a negotiator for Panama, which supported a strong deal, told Reuters the United States, the world’s number two plastics producer behind China, was less open than in previous rounds conducted under Joe Biden’s administration.
“This time they were just not wanting anything. So it was hard, because we always had them against us in each of the important provisions,” she said at the end of the 11-day talks.
Anti-plastic campaigners saw little hope for a change in Washington’s position under President Donald Trump, who in February signed an executive order encouraging consumers to buy plastic drinking straws.
“The mentality is different, and they want to extract more oil and gas out of the ground,” said Bjorn Beeler, International Coordinator at International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), a global network of over 600 public interest NGOs.
The US State Department said in a statement that the US delegation pushed for “common-sense and pragmatic approaches” during negotiations to reduce plastic pollution while also protecting American industries that rely on plastic.
“We did not support prescriptive top-down regulatory approaches that will stifle innovation and drive consumer inflation across the US economy and all over the world,” it said.
US delegate John Thompson declined to respond to questions from a Reuters reporter on the outcome.
A State Department spokesperson previously said that each party should take measures according to its national context, while Washington has expressed concerns that the new rules could increase the costs of all plastic products. The Trump administration has also rolled back various US climate and environmental policies that it says place too many burdens on national industry.
Earlier this week, Washington also flexed its muscle in talks about another global environmental agreement when it threatened measures against states backing a proposal aimed at reducing shipping emissions.
For a coalition of some 100 countries seeking an ambitious deal in Geneva, plastic production limits are essential.
Fiji’s delegate Sivendra Michael likened excluding this provision to “mopping the floor without turning off the tap.”
For each month of delays, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said nearly a million tons of plastic waste accumulates – some of which washes up on the beaches of island states.
