Norway puts UN project funding on hold raising fears for plastics treaty talks

The largest donor to the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) has paused funding to the body before its revised budget on 12 May, triggering concern among member states and NGOs. The news could carry significance for the already troubled plastic treaty negotiations being overseen by Unep. Since 2022 countries have been struggling to agree on how to deal with the volume of plastics being produced and used, a subject widely acknowledged to be one of the most serious environmental issues of the age, but despite six rounds of talks there has been no agreement in sight. Unep’s executive director, Inger Andersen, met the director general of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) the week before last and was told that “all [funding] agreements are on hold” pending budget decisions, according to sources. Norway has been the largest overall donor to Unep in recent years, contributing approximately $12m (£9m) annually to the fund over the three years to 2025. Norway also contributed $19m in 2025 to the Planetary Fund and another $7.8m in earmarked funds in 2025, meaning that even a pause introduces significant uncertainty for future functioning of the global environment agency with the wider UN already facing severe financial pressure. In addition, the Guardian has obtained an email sent to NGOs by Norad advising them that it was postponing a funding call aimed at projects to combat plastic pollution in developing countries. …