Talks aimed at reaching a treaty on tackling plastic pollution ended on Friday with no agreements on a last-ditch proposal aimed at breaking the deadlock.
Negotiators from 185 countries thrashed out suggestions throughout the night in an effort to try and find common ground between nations wanting measures to curb production of plastics and oil-producing states that wanted any treaty to focus more narrowly on waste management.
Talks chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso issued his revised draft text after countries from all corners brutally shredded his previous version issued Wednesday, plunging the talks into disarray.
The Ecuadoran diplomat spent Thursday in frantic negotiation with multiple regional groups, resulting in a new text that went some way towards appeasing both major blocs.
But the talks at the United Nations in Geneva, which began on 5 August ended without a deal despite running past Thursday's deadline.
After a session held behind closed doors broke up, delegates from several countries gathered in the main assembly hall of the UN Palais des Nations to reflect on the impasse and consider the next step.
"We will not have a treaty to end plastic pollution here in Geneva," said Norway's negotiator said.
'Missed an opportunity'
"We have missed a historic opportunity but we have to keep going and act urgently. The planet and present and future generations need this treaty," said Cuba's delegate.
Palau's representative, speaking for 39 small island developing states (SIDS), voiced frustration. "We repeatedly invest resources and personnel in such talks and we repeatedly return home with insufficient progress to show our people.
"It is unjust for SIDS to face the brunt of yet another global environmental crisis we contribute minimally to."
The High Ambition Coalition, which includes the European Union, Britain and Canada, and many African and Latin American countries, wants to see language on reducing plastic production and the phasing out of toxic chemicals used in plastics.
Microplastics have been found on the highest mountain peaks, in the deepest ocean trench and scattered throughout almost every part of the human body.
On current trends, annual production of fossil-fuel-based plastics will nearly triple by 2060 to 1.2 billion tonnes, while waste will exceed one billion tonnes, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
With 15 million tonnes of plastic dumped in the ocean every minute, French President Emmanuel Macron asked: "What are we waiting for to act?"
Oil states push recycling over cuts as plastic treaty talks enter crunch phase
"I urge all states gathered in Geneva to adopt an agreement that truly meets the scale of this environmental and public health emergency," he posted on X.
But the plea was not heeded.
A cluster of mostly oil-producing states calling themselves the Like-Minded Group - including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Russia, Iran, and Malaysia - wanted the treaty to have a much narrower remit.
"Our views were not reflected ... without an agreed scope, this process cannot remain on the right track and risks sliding down a slippery slope," said Kuwait.
More than 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced globally each year, half of which is for single-use items.
Although 15 percent of plastic waste is collected for recycling, only nine percent is actually recycled.
Nearly half ends up in landfills, while 17 percent is incinerated and 22 percent is mismanaged and becomes litter.
