GLOBAL governments gathered in Switzerland today for a sixth attempt to complete a landmark treaty aimed at ending the plastic pollution crisis that affects every ecosystem and person on the planet.

A key split is over whether the treaty should require a reduction in the production of plastic, with powerful oil-producing nations opposed. Most plastic is made from fossil fuels.

They claim that redesign, recycling and reuse can solve the problem, but other countries and some major companies say that will not be enough.

Luis Vayas Valdivieso, the chairman of the negotiating committee that aims to develop a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, said: “We are pretty sure nobody wants plastic pollution. Still, we have not been able to find a systematic and an effective way to stop it.

“We are facing a global crisis. Plastic pollution is damaging ecosystems, polluting our oceans and rivers, threatening biodiversity, harming human health and unfairly impacting the most vulnerable. The urgency is real.”

Talks in South Korea last year were supposed to be the final round, but they were adjourned in December at an impasse over cutting plastic production.

Between 19 million and 23 million tons of plastic waste leak into aquatic ecosystems annually, which could jump 50 per cent by 2040 without urgent action, the United Nations says.

Every year, the world makes more than 400 million tons of new plastic — and that could grow by about 70 per cent by 2040 without policy changes.