Global Plastics Treaty Negotiations Resume Today in Geneva, Switzerland, Focusing on Full Lifecycle Pollution Management

After eight months without reaching a consensus, the UN-led negotiations on a global plastics treaty resumed today, August 5th, in Geneva, Switzerland.

Image source: Adobe Stock/Eddy Drmwn

From August 5 to 14, delegations from 179 countries will gather at the Palais des Nations in Geneva for a conference. Additionally, about 1,900 representatives from 618 observer organizations, including scientists, environmentalists, and industry representatives, will participate.

This meeting is the first negotiation following the fifth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) meeting held last December in Busan, South Korea. INC-5 was supposed to be the final showdown in this series of negotiations, aiming to conclude the two-year talks with a legally binding document designed to curb plastic pollution. However, countries had significant disagreements over the basic scope of the convention and could only agree to postpone key decisions to a new round of meetings. At the end of INC-5, more than 100 countries advocated for setting a cap on global plastic production, while some oil-producing countries were only willing to target plastic waste. Media reports indicated that Saudi Arabia was especially identified as an obstacle to the negotiations.

The new round of meetings will be called "INC-5.2". The working document for this negotiation is the "Chair's Text" drafted on December 1, 2024, which clearly states that the goal of the agreement is to "protect human health and the environment from plastic pollution (including plastic pollution in the marine environment), based on a comprehensive approach covering the entire lifecycle of plastics."

After the failure of the INC-5 negotiations, representatives from the plastics and chemical industries emphasized that solutions to plastic waste should not involve a global cap on production. “There are better ways to end pollution—namely by building a circular economy for plastics, designing plastics to be reusable and recyclable from the outset, and ensuring that, at end of life, plastics are collected and remade into new products,” said Chris Jahn, Secretary of the International Council of Chemical Associations, in a statement on behalf of the Global Partners for Plastics Circularity in December 2024. “The convention can send the right signals, for example by setting recycled plastic targets in national action plans and introducing design guidelines for reusable and recyclable plastics. These measures can accelerate our transition from a linear to a circular economy. We are encouraged by the progress INC-5 has made on these issues. Governments should not let the pursuit of perfection stand in the way of achieving a good agreement that is within reach.”