Global talks to establish a landmark treaty to end plastic pollution have once again collapsed, marking the sixth round of negotiations in under three years. A significant division persists between approximately 100 nations advocating for production curbs and oil-producing states pushing for a focus on recycling infrastructure, leading to deep disappointment among many participants.

• The talks aimed to finalize a deal by December 2023 but have repeatedly missed deadlines, with the latest round failing to break the deadlock during negotiations in Geneva.
• Environmental groups like Greenpeace, through their head of delegation Graham Forbes, criticized the prioritization of profit by oil states over environmental health, attributing the failure to "a handful of bad actors."
• Palau, representing island states, decried the "insufficient progress," emphasizing the unjust burden on nations that contribute minimally to the global environmental crisis.