The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has announced that the next International Negotiating Committee meeting (INC-5.2) to negotiate a Global Plastics Treaty will be held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva from 5th – 14th August 2025.
As the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) approached in January 2022, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Nestlé, The Coca-Cola Company, Mondi, and TOMRA were among the signatories calling for the creation of an international, legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution, overseen by an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee.
UN Member State representatives, including Heads of State and Ministers of Environment, ultimately agreed on a UN resolution on 2nd March 2022; this envisioned a harmonized, global framework covering the full life cycle of plastic from design to disposal, consisting of binding and non-binding rules. It was anticipated to be completed by the end of 2024, at which point UNEP would adopt, sign, and ratify the framework at a diplomatic conference.
We provided a full breakdown of the Global Plastic Treaty’s negotiation process from INC-1 to INC-4 in a previous edition of the Brief, but to summarize, the first four negotiation rounds were held in Punta del Este (28th November – 2nd December 2022), Paris (29th May – 2nd June 2023), Nairobi (13th – 19th November 2023), and Ottowa (23rd – 29th April 2024).
Then INC-5 was held in Busan (25th November – 1st December 2024). Certain ‘low-ambition’ countries, including the League of Arab States and, more broadly, the coalition of Like-Minded Countries, were accused of criticizing the treaty’s scope and the contents of the non-paper to stall negotiations for their own benefit, and concerns were raised during the process that efforts to refine the treaty text were moving too slowly.
INC Chair Luis Vayas Valvidieso chose to publish a revised treaty text earlier than expected; this was then set to form the basis of the final treaty. However, critics felt the text was not ambitious enough, and over 80 countries refused to accept a global treaty if it did not include such measures as binding global bans and phase-outs for harmful substances.
While the draft text was updated in line with this demand, negotiators ultimately failed to reach an agreement within the allocated time.
In the aftermath, it was acknowledged that discussions had reached ‘a new level of depth and nuance’, with high-ambition countries coming together to support measures that address the whole life cycle of plastic products, rather than blaming the plastic waste crisis on mismanagement in the Global South.
However, critics have alleged that the presence of fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists sabotaged the treaty’s development. Some criticized the draft text for failing to address even simple and/or obvious measures to overcome plastic waste, such as mandatory Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), financing for lower-income countries, and bans and phase-outs for certain plastics and chemicals.
“At UNEA 5.2, the world promised to tackle plastic pollution,” commented UNEP executive director Inger Andersen in a LinkedIn post published after INC-5. “Now, at the next round of talks, the world will have the opportunity to finally make that a reality. An opportunity we cannot afford to miss.”
Another meeting was expected sometime in 2025, using the Chair’s revised text as a general basis. Now UNEP has revealed that INC-5.2 will take place this summer at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
In response, Reloop has announced that it is “working on a review of the Chair’s draft text […] to refine and strengthen key Articles relevant to Reloop’s mission with minimal but impactful modifications.
“These proposals will build on previous submissions and highlight critical links that ensure coherence in the final Convention.”
A Plastic Planet also “urge[s] decision makers to listen to the scientists, and understand that plastic is no longer worth the risk on health and the economy” and “will continue banging the drum on the truth about plastic and calling for an ambitious treaty that cuts production.”
Yet, even back in December, a common denominator among the discourse was that some kind of consensus must be reached. Zero Waste Europe founder Joan Marc Simon stated that “either low-ambition countries raise their ambition, or the majority of the parties should start a parallel process with those willing to address the roots of plastic pollution.”
The Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty also posed the ultimatum that negotiators “can continue negotiating a treaty with universal support but little impact. Or they can agree on a treaty based on strong global rules across the full lifecycle of plastics and with a comprehensive financing mechanism, confident in knowing that this is what the majority of governments, business and citizens want.”
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