India backs ‘weak’ plastic treaty draft with no cap on production, toxic chemicals

GENEVA: On the eve of the penultimate day of negotiations for a legally binding global plastics treaty, talks are in deadlock — and India has thrown its weight behind the petrochemical-producing Like-Minded Countries (LMC), accepting a weakened draft text that drops production caps and chemical controls as merely a “starting point” for talks.

“We have some serious concerns on the text proposed by you, as we see many fundamental elements (scope) missing from the text,” said Naresh Pal Gangwar, Joint Secretary in the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and head of India’s delegation. “Having said this, we consider this as a good enough starting point to further our work… We also urge other member states to have trust in your leadership and express their concern during the consultation process.”

The new draft, released by Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) Chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso, just ahead of the scheduled plenary on Wednesday evening, retains voluntary measures on product redesign, recycling, and waste management but deletes a previous article on production limits and omits all reference to chemicals of concern. The only nod to production appears in the preamble — a symbolic gesture far from the binding commitments sought by more than 100 countries.

India’s alignment with the LMC, led by Kuwait and including Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Malaysia, places it firmly in the camp resisting upstream measures that target the root cause of plastic pollution — the sheer volume of plastic being produced. The bloc has consistently opposed any global phase-out list, production caps, or trade restrictions on plastic products.

The EU and its 27 member states blasted the draft, saying it “doesn’t meet the minimum requirements and falls short of UNEA 5/14,” and called for reinstating strong, binding measures to curb virgin plastic output. Norway, co-chair of the High Ambition Coalition, said the text was “not acceptable as it stands.” Colombia outright rejected it as “imbalanced,” drawing applause from observers and high-ambition delegations.

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