The US government is pushing back against measures to tackle the ever-growing production of plastics in a new global treaty as key talks this week failed to produce a breakthrough ahead of the upcoming final round of negotiations.

Following speculation on how the Trump administration would handle thorny discussions over an expected UN pact on plastic pollution, US officials finally spelled out their new position at a three-day informal gathering in Nairobi aimed at finding a way forward ahead of next month’s talks in Geneva.

In a statement seen by Climate Home, the US made clear it does not support provisions that would regulate the supply side of plastics or feedstocks used in its manufacturing, adding that for areas without a “level of convergence” – including production – action should be left to “country-level discretion”.

After China, the US is the world’s second-largest producer of plastic polymers – the basic building blocks of plastic products that are primarily derived from fossil fuels.

Under the Biden administration, the US had flip-flopped between different positions on the UN treaty. It first attempted to water down its ambition, then backed measures to limit plastic production and finally, following Trump’s election, largely sat on the fence during crunch talks in Busan, South Korea, last December.

Fossil-fuel producers unite

Now, in the statement issued in Nairobi, the US said it wants “to ensure that we will grow our economies, maintain jobs for our citizens, all while reducing plastic pollution through cost-effective and pragmatic solutions”.

“We support an agreement that focuses on efforts that will lead to reducing plastic pollution, not on stopping the use of plastics,” it added, echoing a talking point frequently trotted out by other major fossil fuel producers opposed to plastic production cuts like Saudi Arabia and Russia.

After countries dramatically failed to reach an agreement in Busan, the informal meeting in Nairobi was billed as a crucial opportunity to find potential solutions and lay a path toward landing a deal at the so-called “INC-5.2” negotiations in Geneva.

Over half of countries push for plastic production cuts in new UN pact

But, while this week’s discussions were described as “constructive” and resulted in some overall progress, countries were still far apart on the most divisive elements of the treaty, including how to deal with the ever-expanding supply of plastics, three negotiators told Climate Home.

Climate Home maintained the sources’ anonymity to allow them to speak freely about confidential discussions from which the media is excluded.

Long-standing fault lines remain largely unchanged. On the one hand, a coalition of nearly 100 countries across the developed and developing world wants an “ambitious” treaty that stems the rising flow of plastics, ideally with a global target to reduce production and consumption to “sustainable levels”.

On the other, most oil-and-gas producing nations, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, and petrochemical powerhouses like India, argue the pact should be limited to addressing consumption and recycling.

Seeking a way forward

David Azoulay, director of environmental health at the nonprofit Center for International Law (CIEL), said it was “concerning”, though not totally unexpected, that the meeting “did not provide the kind of breakthrough or radical changes in the negotiation dynamics that could unlock the negotiations ahead of INC-5.2 in Geneva”.

“We saw obstructive countries double-down on their proven, time-tested strategies that reject constructive approaches to addressing content,” he told