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Plastic treaty negotiations
At plastic treaty negotiations held in Paris from 29 May to 2 June, 2023, Parties agreed in principle on some of the core elements of the future treaty: the need to cap plastic production, to manage microplastics and ghost gears, and to regulate high-risk plastic products and the chemicals that leach out of them. A zero draft is to be written by the next meeting scheduled in November 2023, with the goal to have the final agreement adopted in 2025. Saudi Arabia, Russia and China led objections to the treaty decisions being adopted by a majority vote rather than a consensus. A coalition of high-ambition governments led by Norway and Rwanda supported to adopt the goal to end plastic pollution altogether by 2040 by slashing production and limiting some chemicals used in making plastics globally. However, US, China and Saudi Arabia focused on plastic recycling and pushed for bottom-up country commitments instead of across-the-board limits.