In August, the world should have been celebrating the first global agreement to end plastics pollution. Instead, negotiators from more than 180 countries ended the latest round of talks in Geneva, Switzerland, amid acrimony.
The chair and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which organizes the talks, have failed to bridge the gulf between countries that want chemicals of concern to be regulated and plastics production to be decarbonized over time, and those who would prefer an agreement that focuses on a narrower range of measures, such as improved recycling. But this crisis can both be resolved and be prevented from happening again, suggest the authors of two articles in this week’s issue.
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