12 June 2025 - Behind closed doors, in a domed conference pavilion steps away from the historic port of Nice, more than 40 ministers gathered on Tuesday to tackle one of the planet¡¯s fastest-growing environmental threats: plastic pollution.
Away from the cameras and fanfare of the under way in the coastal French city, they voiced a shared determination to finalize this year a global treaty that could, for the first time, regulate plastics across their entire life cycle.
¡°There is renewed commitment to conclude the treaty in August,¡± Jyoti Mathur-Filipp, who attended the meeting and is leading the treaty negotiations, told UN News. ¡°This is too urgent an issue to be left for the future.¡±
Hosted by Inger Andersen, the head of the UN Environment Programme (), the informal gathering marked a quiet but significant diplomatic moment ¨C a sign that after two years of deliberations, political momentum may finally be catching up with scientific alarm.
With one round of talks remaining ¨C scheduled from August 5 to 14 in Geneva ¨C negotiators are now under pressure to deliver the first legally binding treaty aimed at tackling plastic pollution across production, consumption, and waste.
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