Delegations from about 170 countries will gather in the southern port city of Busan this week to produce an international treaty on plastic pollution. 

The fifth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution will kick off in Busan on Monday and run through Sunday. 

Negotiations started in March 2022, and observers are asking whether the participating nations will reach a legally binding international treaty at the Busan gathering.  

This fifth and final round of negotiations is expected to bring together some four thousand people, including delegates from some 170 UN member states, representatives of nongovernmental organizations, and lobbyists for the petrochemical industry and other interested parties. 

It’s uncertain whether the participants will reach an agreement, since countries remain at odds over issues such as regulations on the production of plastics and a proposed ban on the use of certain chemicals.