The latest round of talks towards a treaty to end plastic pollution concluded without agreement on a plastics treaty. Delegates attending what many hoped would be the last round of negotiations were unable to reach consensus and could not adopt a new treaty. Without clarity on key issues or the next steps, the process remains in the balance. 

The resumed fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2) to develop an international legally binding instrument (ILBI) on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, represented a second chance to clinch a deal, given that consensus also proved elusive at the fifth session in Busan, Republic of Korea, in December 2024, according to the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) summary report of the meeting.

Amid a swelling tide of plastic pollution, “scientifically proven to be poisoning ecosystems and flooding human bodies,” negotiators gathered in Geneva, “hoping to overcome significant differences” and deliver on the mandate from the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA), ENB writes. A Chair’s Text issued in December 2024 served as the basis for much of the contact and informal group discussions throughout the meeting.

Among the thorniest issues that plagued the talks, ENB identifies: whether or not the UNEA mandate encompasses issues relating to sustainable production of plastic – the raw material used to make plastic products; and who would be responsible for financing the implementation of the future treaty. On financing, delegates debated a proposed new categorization of countries – “parties with a capacity” to contribute finances to implement the treaty in the most vulnerable countries. According to ENB, “[t]his group could include developing countries that have plastic production and/or manufacture plastic products and have benefitted from the profits from these sales.”

Whether to use the UNEA language setting out the scope, which refers to the full life cycle of plastic, was also contentious, with many supporting this approach, while others preferred “renegotiating.” In an effort to better understand one another’s positions, delegates also expanded the original text, “making limited progress toward a new treaty.”

“Perhaps the most significant feature of the meeting was the circulation of new texts by the INC Chair,” ENB flags, “which did not garner much support from states.” Many expressed concerns over the lack of clarity and “untransparent” working modalities, including the development of the two Chair’s texts that some described as “imbalanced.” Adjourning the meeting, INC Chair Luis Vayas (Ecuador) announced there would be “a further resumed meeting at a date yet to be determined.”

However, it is unclear which document delegates would base further negotiations on as “[w]hen the meeting adjourned, members technically had four iterations of the treaty text before them,” per ENB analysis. These were: the Chair’s Text circulated in Busan on 1 December 2024; a heavily bracketed Assembled Text, prepared at the end of the first week to take stock of the work in contact groups; a Draft Text Proposal the INC Chair circulated a few days later; and a Revised Text Proposal issued just before 1:00 am on Friday, 15 August.

INC-5.2 convened in Geneva, Switzerland, from 5-15 August 2025, with over 2,600 delegates in attendance, representing 183 Member States and 400 observer organizations, including environmental groups, waste pickers, Indigenous Peoples, and youth, as well as fossil fuel and chemical industry lobby. Informal roundtables held in the margins gathered 70 ministers and vice ministers, as well as 30 other high-level representatives. [ENB Coverage of INC-5.2]