Chaos and dismay. What was meant to be the final session of negotiations aimed at achieving a legally binding global treaty to combat plastic pollution, as well as its harmful effects on the environment and human health, ultimately ended in a bitter failure. Negotiators were not able to find any common ground between two camps: on one side, the "High Ambition" group of about 100 countries, including the European Union's members, who supported a treaty to limit plastic production and address the entire life cycle of plastic objects; on the other, a small group of countries deemed "obstructing," including the Gulf states, Iran and Russia, all oil and gas producers, who wanted the scope of the agreement to be limited to the sole issue of waste management and recycling.

The United Nations' Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC), chaired by Ecuadorian Ambassador Luis Vayas Valdivieso, had planned an exceptionally long 10-day session for the new round of discussions, which was held at the Palace of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, following the failure of what was supposed to be the last round of negotiations – held in Busan, South Korea, at the end of 2024.

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