Following failed negotiations over a global plastic pollution treaty among over 100 countries in Geneva, environmentalists have underscored the urgency of international cooperation against the menace, insisting that global agreement is crucial in tackling the challenge.

The experts from the public and non-governmental organisations, including the Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (SRADEV) and Centre for Earth Work (CFEW), spoke at different fora, noting that the growing plastic crisis fuelled by fossil fuel consumption requires urgent, united global action and called for transparency around the production and use of chemical plastics.

The world makes over 400 million tonnes of new plastic yearly, which could grow by about 70 per cent by 2040 without policy changes, according to reports.

Nigeria, ranked ninth globally in plastic pollution, grapples with cross-border smuggling, black markets, and lax regulation.

About 100 countries want to limit plastic production. Many have said it’s also essential to address toxic chemicals used to make plastics.

Unfortunately, the international negotiation towards a plastic treaty, which started on August 5, ended last Friday in Geneva, Switzerland, without any agreement towards tackling plastic pollution. Delegates, including environment officials from Nigeria, waste pickers and indigenous leaders, and business executives, travelled to the forum to make their voices heard, but left disappointed.

Negotiations over a global plastic pollution treaty collapsed as countries failed to bridge wide gaps on whether the world should limit plastic manufacturing and restrict the use of harmful plastic chemicals.

Countries and civil society universally rejected the treaty Chair’s Luis Vayas Valdivieso, proposed text on Thursday, describing it as an unacceptable basis for further negotiations. The concern raised against the draft was that it represented the lowest common denominator, catering to petro-states and the fossil fuel industry instead of the vast majority of aligned countries and excluded the article on reducing plastic production, flouting the treaty mandate to address the full life cycle of plastic.

There were deadlocks over whether the treaty should reduce the high rate of growth of plastic production and put global, legally binding controls on toxic chemicals used to make plastic.

Countries calling for an ambitious treaty to include targets to reduce plastic production, including Nigeria, many African countries, Colombia, Canada, the EU and the United Kingdom, had rejected as “unacceptable” and “unambitious” a draft treaty text that does not include production caps, nor address chemicals used in plastic products. They called for the adoption of legally binding measures to limit plastic production to address plastic at source. Many have said that toxic chemicals in plastics need to be controlled.

The Nigerian delegation in Geneva, headed by Ahmadu Jibrin, articulated Nigeria’s concerns about the new text on Thursday. He said: “We want to specifically mention that the text has gone out of the United Nations Environment Assembly resolution 5/14. It has not addressed the full life cycle approach of plastics.”

He expressed worries that the proposed text had no standalone “article on health” and “measures” to identify and restrict hazardous chemicals. He further expressed worries that the text did not reflect processes to address the impacts of plastic pollution on health and the environment in low and middle-income countries, where plastic production and consumption are increasing.