Global Plastics Treaty Negotiations Stall as Oil Lobby Mounts Pressure

Negotiations aiming to finalize a landmark United Nations treaty on plastic pollution have resumed in Geneva, but momentum has faltered amid sharp divisions over production limits and petrochemical influence.

The current session, known as INC‑5.2, runs from August 5–14 and supporters say it represents a critical opportunity to firm up a legally binding agreement that addresses plastic across its full lifecycle—from design and production to disposal.

Over 100 nations, including the European Union and small island states, support ambitious caps on virgin plastic production, backed by public health and environmental groups.

However, major oil-producing countries—such as Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United States—have taken a hostile stance, pushing for weaker, mostly voluntary measures centered on recycling and waste management tives, and products—arguing such provisions would raise costs of everyday goods. The message sets Washington firmly against more than a hundred countries backing stronger rules.

Campaigners are also sounding alarms over the unprecedented scale of industry lobbying in Geneva: fossil fuel and petrochemical lobbyists now outnumber scientific and Indigenous representation by a wide margin—234 lobbyists are logged in, overshadowing entire regional delegations, according to the Guardian.

Without a bold and binding treaty, experts warn, the agreement risks being reduced to hollow commitments, focused on downstream pollution control rather than addressing the root causes of plastic waste. This outcome would fail to curb the staggering flow of plastics into oceans and ecosystems—a crisis already well underway.

Source: Tovima.com