France Accuses Several Countries of Obstructing Efforts to Curb Plastic Pollution

France accused on Sunday  a number of countries of obstructing negotiations in South Korea to reach the world's first treaty to reduce plastic pollution.

"We are also concerned about the continued obstruction by so-called like-minded countries," French Energy Minister Olga Givernet told reporters, without naming any specific countries.

Representatives of nearly 200 countries are meeting in the coastal city of Busan to negotiate a deal to reduce plastic pollution, with just hours to go before the talks end and no legally binding agreement has been reached.

"Agreeing on an ambitious treaty to reduce plastic pollution remains an absolute priority for France, and we are trying to push the negotiations forward," Givernet added.

Plastic production is expected to triple by 2060, while more than 90 percent of plastic is not recycled.

Efforts to reach a landmark agreement have stalled over several key sticking points, particularly measures to limit production and phase out chemicals believed or known to harm human health.

More than 100 countries support a proposal, put forward by Panama, to create a pathway to a global target for reducing plastic production, insisting that a treaty without a defined pathway will not solve the pollution crisis. But about a dozen countries, most of them producers of fossil fuel-based plastics, are strongly opposed to the measures.

The latest draft of the proposed measures is full of conflicting views and contradictory language.

The long-awaited plastics treaty, if reached, would be the most significant in terms of protecting the environment and reducing greenhouse gas emissions since the 2015 Paris Agreement.

The chairman of the negotiating committee, Luis Valais Valdivieso, issued a revised document on Sunday that could form the basis of the treaty, but it has not yet been ratified.