Countries negotiating a global treaty to tackle plastics pollution are closer to agreement than in previous rounds, according to the diplomat chairing the talks.
Chilean ambassador Julio Cordano, who took over as chair earlier this year after his predecessor Luis Vayas Valdivieso resigned, said he expected a deal could be reached at the next formal negotiating session in March.
“My plan and my expectation is that we will be able to adopt the treaty in INC [Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee] 5.4 [in March 2027], if we follow the correct steps, if we make consistent progress, and if we complete the roadmap that I presented,” he told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Negotiations on a treaty to address plastics pollution began in 2022, with an initial two-year timetable.
Failure to make progress
However, talks in South Korea in 2024 ended without agreement, while a further negotiating session in Geneva the following year also failed to make progress.
Most countries have called for ambitious, legally binding measures to reduce plastics production, which is expected to triple by 2060.
A smaller group, largely made up of oil-producing countries including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Russia, has opposed production restrictions and argued that negotiations should focus more narrowly on waste management.
Ahead of informal talks in Bangkok, Cordano issued an ‘aid to negotiations’, a non-binding outline of a possible treaty that leaves the most contentious issues unresolved.
These include whether the treaty should impose a cap on plastics production, references to human health, and measures covering problematic plastics products and chemicals of concern.
Closer to agreement
Cordano said countries were closer to agreement on these issues than previous negotiations had suggested.
“I think you would be surprised to hear members on these topics,” he said. “I think they are much closer than simply binary positions that are irreconcilable.”
AFP reported that some countries are increasingly supporting an approach that would provide different options within the treaty, allowing more ambitious countries to introduce measures such as production limits or restrictions on certain products while others would not adopt them.
Cordano said the concept of “different pathways or different departure points” was “embedded in our mandate”.
He also called for pragmatism in reaching the treaty’s overall objective. “There’s more than one way to achieve that, and I think members are realising that,” he added.
Decision-process disagreements
Significant disagreements remain, including over how decisions should be adopted and how the treaty could be amended in the future.
Some countries want all decisions to be reached by consensus, while opponents argue that this could allow a small number of countries to prevent progress.
Cordano said he remained committed to a treaty that would be accepted by all countries, but acknowledged concerns about ensuring it could be implemented effectively if consensus remained the basis for future decisions.
“It is about how can we collectively understand and come up with a system that would allow this treaty in the future to be effective, not to be stopped, not to be frozen because there is no consensus,” he said.
Cordano expects to issue a further aid to negotiations next month, ahead of another round of informal talks in January.
“Everybody sees that this is a problem that requires a solution,” he said. “I think people are seeing eye-to-eye … I think this is a reason to be optimistic.”
