Global Plastics Treaty Talks Collapsed In August After 3 Years Of Meetings; Now, Treaty Chair Resigning
The chair of stalled UN plastics treaty talks, Luis Vayas Valdivieso, is preparing to step down, after accounts of behind-the-scenes pressure from the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep). The move will be announced at a UN meeting on Tuesday, with an official announcement expected by Thursday. Vayas Valdivieso confirmed in an interview with the Guardian that he was resigning and said: There have been some challenges in the process.
In August, global talks at the UN headquarters in Geneva to agree on a treaty to deal with accelerating plastic pollution collapsed after three years of negotiations. There is currently no deal and the future of the agreement is unclear. The chairs sudden resignation leaves the plastic treaty in an even more uncertain position, and raises questions around the governance of the process.
Vayas Valdivieso faced criticism from NGOs and member states during the latest stage of the talks for releasing a draft text, which was rejected by the majority of negotiators and described by the UKs head of delegation, the minister Emma Hardy as the lowest common denominator. Ghana said the text would entrench the status quo for decades to come.
A section on plastic production limits from a previous draft had been removed, and there was no mention of hazardous chemicals in plastics. Text about addressing plastic pollution across the full life cycle from a previous draft had also been taken out. A second text, which was described as marginally better but still criticised for not being ambitious enough, came too late for an agreement to be formed. It was also rejected as the basis for continuing talks.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/07/un-plastics-treaty-chair-to-step-down-with-process-in-turmoil