Plastic Pollution Treaty Talks in Geneva End Without an Agreement
15th August 2025
Talks on a treaty to address the global crisis of plastic pollution in Geneva ended without an agreement Friday as the session was adjourned with plans to resume at a later date.
Nations were meeting for an 11th day at the United Nations office to try to complete a landmark treaty to end the plastic pollution crisis. They remain deadlocked over whether the treaty should reduce exponential growth of plastic production and put global, legally binding controls on toxic chemicals used to make plastics. Most plastic is made from fossil fuels.
Inger Andersen, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, said despite challenges, despite the disappointment, “we have to accept that significant progress was made.”
The problem with all of these manufactured crises (Climate change! Pollution! Fossil fuels! Greenhouse gases! Dogs and cats sleeping together!) is that Chicken Little has a very large following but that following is heading off in all directions. A serious problem has an obvious solution–not an easy one, but an obvious one– but no one is willing to be the first to bite the bullet.