The final round of United Nations talks on a global treaty on plastic pollution started in a "constructive spirit," the head of its negotiating committee said on Tuesday (August 5).

“I’m especially pleased that the opening plenary this morning finished in a very constructive spirit, enabling negotiations to begin without delay," Luis Vayas Valdivieso, the chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC), told a press conference on the sidelines of the discussions.

Delegates from some 180 countries kicked off discussions on the pact in Geneva on Tuesday, though hopes for a "last-chance" ambitious pact to curb plastic pollution have dimmed.

Diplomats and climate advocates warn that efforts by the European Union and small island states to cap virgin plastic production - fuelled by petroleum, coal and gas - are threatened by opposition from petrochemical-producing countries and the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump.

U.N. Environment Programme chief Inger Andersen said delegates' views remain split on the question of plastic production caps. Other divisive issues include managing plastic products and chemicals of concern and financing to help developing countries implement the treaty.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (AUGUST 5, 2025) (UNTV – Access all)

1. OFFICIALS SEATED DURING PRESS CONFERENCE

2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHAIR OF INTERGOVERNMENTAL NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE ON PLASTIC POLLUTION, LUIS VAYAS VALDIVIESO, SAYING:

“I’m especially pleased that the opening plenary this morning finished in a very constructive spirit, enabling negotiations to begin without delay. This sense of urgency and responsibility is exactly what this moment requires. We now have a clear path ahead, and we must walk it together with determination, professionalism and mutual respect.”

3. PRESS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS

4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHAIR OF INTERGOVERNMENTAL NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE ON PLASTIC POLLUTION, LUIS VAYAS VALDIVIESO, SAYING:

“What I’m expecting is an effective treaty, an effective treaty that will fulfil and will deliver on the mandate of Resolution 5/14, that we are working for that, we are negotiating to deliver on that mandate and to have this effective treaty that will give us credible rules to combat and to end plastic pollution, a treaty that will be alive on time, too, a treaty that will be effective now, well, once that enters into force, and also in the decades to come, in the years to come."

5. JOURNALIST ASKING QUESTION

6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INGER ANDERSEN, SAYING:

“But just to say that there are a variety of views, and I wouldn’t say that this issue (production caps) has been resolved, and there’s still some member states that look at production through a different lens. However, there’s been a lot of very helpful conversations, and we’ll see how they’ll end up defining sustainable consumption and production and full life cycle, thank you.”

7. PRESS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS