“Multilateralism must work for those who need it most. Consensus has failed due to the tyranny of the few. High ambition countries must be true to their word or be remembered as the ones who let the world choke on plastic. Governments promised ambition. Now they must deliver, not compromise,”.
Following 10 days of negotiations, Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) talks to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, adjourned early on 15 August in Geneva without consensus on a text of the instrument.
This was a hard-fought 10 days against the backdrop of geopolitical complexities, economic challenges, and multilateral strains. However, the member states agreed to continue the process,at future date to be communicated, recognizing the significant difference of views between states.
“While we did not land the treaty text we hoped for, we at UNEP will continue the work against plastic pollution – pollution that is in our groundwater, in our soil, in our rivers, in our oceans and yes, in our bodies,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
The goal of INC-5.2 was to agree on the instrument’s text and highlight unresolved issues requiring further preparatory work ahead of a diplomatic conference. The session followed a structured approach—starting with an opening plenary, transitioning into four contact groups tackling key areas like plastic design, chemicals of concern, production caps, finance, and compliance, followed by a stocktake plenary, informal consultations, and ending with a closing plenary on 15 August.
A Chair’s Text from INC-5.1 in Busan served as the starting point for negotiations at INC-5.2, with the Chair releasing a Draft Text Proposal and a Revised Text Proposal over the course of the session. Despite intensive engagement, Members of the Committee were unable to reach consensus on the proposed texts.
The INC Chair Ambassador Luis Vayas Valdivieso noted that failing to reach the set goal it may bring sadness and even frustration, though it should not lead to discouragement.
“It has not happened yet in Geneva, but I have no doubt that the day will come when the international community will unite its will and join hands to protect our environment and safeguard the health of our people,” he added.
Five days into the final Global Plastics Treaty negotiations, activists met in Geneva on 9th. August and protested because of the the delay the negotiations like they have done in the last 5 INC meetings.
They said: “Enough is enough; something must change. We are joining the voices of waste pickers, front-line communities, scientists, healthcare professionals, children and youth, women, businesses, and non-governmental organisations around the world, calling on governments to step up. Fix the process, keep your promise, and finalise a meaningful treaty to end plastic pollution”
Hellen Kahaso Dena, Greenpeace Africa’s Pan-Africa Plastics Project Lead said they couldn’t just sit watching few Member States derail and delay the negotiations like they have done in the last 5 INC meetings. She explained that governments must seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and use every tool available to make progress and end corporate capture of these negotiations –
“African governments must demonstrate leadership as has been in previous negotiations and resist any attempts to come out of Geneva with a waste management treaty,” she stressed
On the aborted plastic treaty meeting she says, – “As governments put their political and economic interests before people and the planet, the planet burns, our oceans choke and our children breathe, drink and eat microplastics. This delay allows polluters to continue flooding the world with plastic, while front line commonalities face the dire consequences of this crisis.
She believes that the opportunity to secure a plastics treaty that protects our health, biodiversity and climate is still within reach and member states only need to up their game, step up with courage and deliver a treaty that cuts plastic production to alleviate our communities from the detrimental impacts of plastic pollution.
Graham Forbes, Greenpeace Head of Delegation to the Global Plastics Treaty negotiation and Greenpeace USA Global Plastics Campaign Lead added that, an ineffective, weak treaty is a betrayal that further burdens the Global South, and emboldens the world’s biggest polluters. All countries that promised ambition must step up and deliver a treaty that cuts plastic production. They must be confident knowing the public is behind them, depending on their leadership and action now.
“Multilateralism must work for those who need it most. Consensus has failed due to the tyranny of the few. High ambition countries must be true to their word or be remembered as the ones who let the world choke on plastic. Governments promised ambition. Now they must deliver, not compromise,” he pointed out.
This INC process kicked off in March 2022, at the resumed fifth session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2), when a historic resolution was adopted to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment.
The Geneva session follows INC 5.1, which took place in November/December 2024 in Busan, Republic of Korea. That meeting was preceded by four sessions: INC-1 in Punta del Este in November 2022, INC-2, held in Paris in June 2023, INC-3 in Nairobi in November 2023, and INC-4, which took place in Ottawa in April 2024.
