UN plastics treaty is being hampered by climate obstruction tactics

COMPANIES start selling a product that transforms daily life. Scientists warn it is dangerous. Dozens of countries try to reach a deal to rein in its use but others fight back and slow action.

This sums up the decades it has taken United Nations negotiations to curb emissions from burning fossil fuels, which are the biggest driver of climate change. But it also describes more recent efforts to end the scourge of plastic pollution in separate UN talks due to come to a head in Geneva on Thursday (Aug 14).

The Geneva meeting is supposed to craft the first legally binding pact to tackle the ocean-choking, health-harming, carbon-polluting plastic waste that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says is on course to nearly triple by 2060.