Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Dion George. (@DrDionGeorge/X)
Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Dion George has sharply criticised the process behind the latest round of talks to develop a global plastics treaty in Geneva, Switzerland, describing the collapse of the negotiations as a “tragedy that could have been avoided”.
George told the second annual plastics, human health and solutions symposium in New York last week that plastic pollution is too often treated solely as an environmental issue when, in reality, it has become “a growing risk to human health”.
In August, delegates from 183 countries gathered in Geneva for the sixth round of talks, INC-5.2, aimed at finalising a legally binding UN treaty to tackle plastics throughout their entire lifecycle.
More than 100 countries supported strong measures, including major cuts to production, restrictions on toxic chemicals and phasing out single-use plastics in favour of reusable alternatives.
However, nations with powerful oil and petrochemical interests, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and Russia, resisted these proposals, arguing that the treaty should focus narrowly on waste management and recycling.
George placed the blame on poor process management. “Microplastics are already in our drinking water, in our food systems and, ultimately, in our bodies,” he said at the event, hosted by the NYU Langone Health Center for the Investigation of Environmental Hazards, in partnership with A Plastic Planet.
“Protecting people from this risk must be central to the treaty we are negotiating. Not achieving a plastics treaty could have been avoided. The process was the problem.”
The minister said South Africa’s approach is grounded in scientific evidence. A 2016 plastics material flow study identified microbeads as a priority concern, requiring urgent attention. In 2018, a study by the Water Research Commission found microplastics in Johannesburg and Tshwane’s tap water and groundwater. By 2022, new research showed microplastics and plasticisers harming aquatic organisms, even at low concentrations.
South Africa has acted on these findings, George said. In August, draft regulations were published to prohibit the manufacture, import, sale and use of microbeads.
Extended producer responsibility rules already require producers to manage the full lifecycle of their products, while plastic bag regulations now demand 50% recycled content, rising to 75% in 2025 and 100% by 2027.
“These measures reduce plastic leakage and create new economic opportunities in recycling and innovation. Through our national waste management strategy, South Africa is shifting away from disposal towards value addition,” George said.
Waste can no longer be treated as a burden, he said, but must be seen as a resource for new industries and new jobs. He added: “But we are clear — the leakage of plastics into our environment, and into our food and water, cannot be allowed to continue.”
The minister said South Africa has consistently called for a treaty covering plastics across their entire lifecycle — production, design, use and disposal — as well as intentionally added microplastics.
Crucially, the treaty must be fair. Developing countries cannot be expected to protect human health without access to finance, technology and capacity support.
“A treaty that is science-based and health-centred must also be justice-driven,” he said.
“Our message is simple. The plastics treaty must protect people, as well as the planet, and it must turn off the tap of plastic pollution at its source. Done right, this is not only about reducing harm, it’s about unlocking opportunity, a safer environment, healthier communities, new jobs and a more resilient economy.”
As G20 president until November, South Africa will push forward discussions where they failed in Geneva. George said the country stands ready to work with all partners — governments, scientists, business and civil society — to achieve this outcome. “Plastic pollution is a public health emergency.”
George described the INC-5.2 process as deeply flawed.
“The process failed. I did tell the UN that also. And I do think that, if we are going to get somewhere in the future, we’re going to have to change the process, and not necessarily throw out consensus, because that’s how multilateralism works, but to have a process where the various parties can actually talk to one another.”
George leads the G20 environment and climate sustainability working group, which includes chemicals and waste. He said South Africa would use the G20 to identify areas of agreement in the treaty and try to pull those with divergent positions closer together before the next round of negotiations.
“What we’re going to do is take those pieces of the plastics treaty where we thought there was at least some agreement and package that, and take that through the G20 process, and then offer that to the next discussion that must be had because we need to have an agreement,” he said.
“We needed to have something where we could scoop things together because the positions ended up so far apart because there wasn’t a mechanism in the process to get them closer. That was the issue.
“So, we’re going to take the G20 as a mechanism to try and pull the pieces of it closer then offer them into the process for the next round where the discussion will go forward.”
The process matters enormously and it did not work well in Geneva, he said. “But, of course we must press on with it because, obviously, as an African environment minister, other environment ministers across Africa, say to me ‘you make the plastic, but it washes up on my shore. Now who is going to fix this up? It’s filthy all over the place.’
“Of course, we’re mindful of that. We all agreed we want to have something, including Saudi Arabia, it’s just what’s in the treaty and our process to get there … Everything is a process.
“You’re not going to get the Rolls-Royce version at the first outing … We are talking [about] multilateralism here, so what you have to do is start off where you do agree. So, that’s what we’re going to attempt to do because it is fundamentally important and I do remain very hopeful that we’ll be able to at least have something.”