A summit many hoped would yield a landmark treaty to tackle a global plastic pollution crisis ended in disappointment after oil- and gas-producing countries pushed back on limiting production

During the late-night meeting, countries supportive of legal obligations to cut plastic pollution refused to accept a treaty limited to voluntary measures. The treaty must take action at each stage of a plastic item’s life cycle, they asserted. That includes reducing how much plastic is made.

The meeting was the last stage in a two-year process, after more than 170 nations in March 2022 backed a historic UN resolution to end plastic pollution.

Diplomats at a United Nations conference in Busan, South Korea, failed to reach agreement on the world’s first treaty to tackle plastic pollution on Sunday. They said they would reconvene in future months to try again.

A resolution was adopted, in 2022 in Nairobi, at the United Nations Environment Assembly to develop global rules for curbing plastic pollution and do so by the end of 2024.

Delegates from more than 170 countries huddled for a week of marathon negotiations but came up short on delivering a treaty.

Delegates from more than 170 countries are working to salvage a treaty that would tackle the growing problem of plastic pollution.

Global talks to forge a landmark treaty aimed at reducing plastic pollution broke down after negotiators from more than 170 countries remained deadlocked over how to curb the world’s growing mountain of plastic waste.

Negotiations on a treaty to end plastic pollution have concluded in Busan, South Korea without reaching an agreement

Countries negotiating a global treaty to curb plastic pollution have failed to reach agreement, with more than 100 nations wanting to cap production while a handful of oil-producers were prepared only to target plastic waste.