Negotiations over a global treaty to curb plastic pollution resume today, but opposition from the US and other oil-producing states has dimmed hopes for success.
Diplomats are in Geneva for what was meant to be the final round of negotiations, after talks ended last year without conclusion. But the Trump administration — which has targeted domestic environmental protection laws and science funding — wants to limit the treaty to waste management, while petrostates such as Saudi Arabia and Russia want voluntary measures rather than binding caps, which the European Union and smaller nations are calling for.
Plastic production is set to triple by 2060, and The Lancet said plastic pollution causes more than $1.5 trillion in health-related economic losses each year.
