No breakthrough in Geneva Global agreement against plastic waste has failed for the time being
Everyone agrees on the problem: plastic waste is littering the world and is a danger to humans. But opinions differ on the solutions.
15.08.2025, 06:42
15.08.2025, 06:49
dpa
The agreement on a global treaty against plastic waste has failed for the time being. After three years of negotiations, around 180 countries were unable to agree on a treaty text during the final week in Geneva, as several delegations said after night-time consultations at the final plenary session early on Friday morning. It initially remained unclear what would happen next.
On Wednesday, August 13, it was already clear that the positions of the countries were as far apart as ever. A draft treaty from which practically all binding obligations had been removed was rejected by dozens of countries.
A new draft this Friday morning also failed to meet with unanimous approval, as the conference chairman said. "No agreement in this case is better than one that cements the status quo at UN level instead of being a real solution to the plastics crisis," said Florian Tize from the environmental foundation WWF.
The irreconcilable positions
On the one hand, there are more than 100 countries with particularly ambitious goals ("High Ambition Coalition"), which are calling for production to be restricted to a sustainable level. These include the EU and dozens of countries in South America, Africa and Asia.
They also want to phase out single-use plastics such as cups and cutlery, promote reusable plastic products and a circular economy in which the raw materials of a product are processed and reused.
On the other side are the countries that have the raw material for the plastic: Oil. These include Saudi Arabia, Iran and Russia. They call themselves the "Like-Minded Group". These countries largely want to limit themselves to better waste management.
The mandate that the UN countries gave themselves in 2022 was actually clear: the mandate states that the legally binding treaty should cover the entire life cycle of plastic, from production to design to disposal.
What plastic does to ecosystems and people
Plastic pollutes oceans and the environment, poisons ecosystems, kills fish and other creatures and endangers human health. The smallest particles are increasingly being found in organs and even in the brain.
According to studies, nano- and microplastic particles impair the immune system, can settle in arteries and promote inflammation. There are numerous figures on pollution.
The following are from the German Ministry of the Environment: plastic production has increased sevenfold from the 1970s to 367 tons per year by 2020 and could reach almost 600 million tons per year by 2050 if no measures are taken.
Disposable products, including packaging, account for a large proportion of this. A total of 8.3 billion tons of plastic have been produced to date and 6.3 billion tons of this has become waste, most of which has ended up in landfills. According to estimates, 152 million tons of plastic waste have accumulated in rivers and oceans worldwide.
