United Nations plastic pollution treaty negotiations set for August 5-14

Quotable

"Let us all remember that it remains, more than ever, our collective responsibility to deliver an international legally binding instrument that is effective in addressing the urgent environmental challenge we face, and that will protect future generations and the environment from plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. I count on each participant in the work of the Committee to arrive in Geneva with the determination, drive and constructive engagement, and willingness to show the flexibility that we all need to achieve this important goal." - Ambassador Luis Vayas Valdivieso, Chair INC

The United Nations Palais des Nations will be the site of August’s plastic treaty negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland.
Image credit: History Hit / Shutterstock

The United Nations International Negotiating Committee (INC) will gather for what is expected to be a final round of discussions on August 5-14, 2025, in Geneva, Switzerland. Treaty negotiations began in Uruguay in November 2022 (INC-1) and were slated to end on December 1, 2024, in Busan, Korea (INC-5.1). Because the negotiated text was not yet agreed upon, the decision was made to add another negotiation session (INC-5.2) in Geneva.

Ambassador Luis Vayas Valdivieso of Ecuador is the INC chair and will preside over the negotiations. The current draft of the text that Member States will be negotiating can be found here. Ambassador Vayas has been working hard behind the scenes, hosting meetings in Nairobi with the heads of delegations from June 30 to July 2 to create a spirit of cooperation when official negotiations begin in Geneva. He has released what is known as a Scenario Note and writes that he has “been very encouraged to see Members continued engagement with each other since we met in Busan … This informal work has made clear that there is a strong commitment among Members to find solutions together.”

A "Scenario Note" is what chairs and co-chairs of negotiating processes often routinely use to convey to negotiating partners and NGOs how a particular meeting is being organized, how it will be carried out, and what the chair/co-chair expects (or hopes) the outcome will be. It can be helpful to smoke out any procedural issues (in particular) before getting down to business so as not to waste time having to resolve them first.

Consensus or a majority vote?

A key stumbling block to moving the treaty forward has been the requirement that the treaty be approved by consensus, meaning that all the Member States must agree to the treaty. Key measures that are important to environmental advocates have been blocked by Member States who oppose those issues. Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and other Gulf states are among the countries objecting to strong measures in the treaty. Another option is for the consensus approval mechanism to be dropped in favor of majority voting. Those same countries have also blocked procedural rule 38.1, which allows for voting if consensus is not reached. The negotiations have continued provisionally using the rules of procedure with the exception of rule 38.1.

This is a common disagreement in international negotiations. The climate treaty (the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, known as the UNCFCC) has been in force since 1994, but the Parties have never adopted rules of procedure because of a similar disagreement over the rules for making decisions. As a result, they have “applied” the rules of procedure without adopting them for 30 years. The same can happen with the plastic treaty.

At least 67 countries, called the High Ambition Coalition, would like strong standards in the treaty. If the treaty fails to meet their goals, they could form a “Coalition of the Willing” and develop a separate treaty process outside the United Nations INC process. Sometimes "voluntary coalitions" can be faster to act and just as or more effective. A prime example is the UNEP partnership that got lead out of gasoline virtually worldwide in record time -- it was not a "treaty" but it operated even more effectively and was far less cumbersome than many treaties.

What is a strong treaty?

Environmental advocates call for a legally binding international law aimed at reducing plastic pollution worldwide, and covering the full life-cycle of plastic, which is the objective of the negotiations. Such a treaty would include capping and reducing plastic production, eliminating toxic chemicals in plastic, encouraging reuse and refill strategies, and holding corporations accountable for the impacts of plastic pollution, among other priorities.

Corporate interests would prefer that the treaty focus on circularity, recycling plastic, design standards, and other related measures.

National plans and international enforcement

While the possibility exists that a strong treaty will emerge, the history of negotiations so far suggests that it will be challenging to achieve that goal unless governments agree that the treaty may be adopted by a majority vote rather than by consensus.

However, the current treaty language includes this text. “Each party shall/may develop, taking into account respective national circumstances, a national plan that contains actions and measures the Party intends to take to implement this Convention.” This would allow each nation to enforce its own actions to meet the intent of the treaty.

While international enforcement sounds important, in reality, the only credible international enforcement mechanism available is trade sanctions between countries. Participants are not likely to agree to include trade sanctions in the treaty. Even if there were international regulations, their implementation would still largely depend on each country’s willingness to enforce them domestically.

Some alternate outcomes

Other than a consensus-based treaty with strong measures favored by environmental groups, there could be other outcomes following the talks in Geneva.

• It is possible that INC-5.2 in Geneva will not be the last negotiating session and that talks will continue.
• Another scenario is that the first agreement will be limited to measures such as calls for data on plastic production and research on how to transition to a society where there is less plastic pollution, how to reduce toxic chemicals in plastic products, and the development of design standards to encourage recycling. This could be followed subsequently by stronger actions in specific areas where it might be possible for governments to agree. This “incremental” approach has been taken in a number of other areas, including the Vienna Convention on the Ozone Layer and its Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

No matter what the outcome, treaty language will likely include an annual conference of the parties (COP), similar to the annual climate meetings, where reporting on progress occurs and negotiations continue to incrementally improve on treaty provisions and treaty operations.

Overall, the treaty’s potential measures aim to reduce plastic pollution and encourage sustainable practices, but they could also reshape global trade dynamics. Coordinated implementation, fair trade controls, technical support for developing countries, and thoughtful handling of intellectual property will all be considerations in balancing the treaty’s environmental goals with economic and political realities.

The flow of negotiations at INC-5.2

There will be two official forms to the negotiations between United Nations member states.

1. The plenary (live-streamed on the UNEP website)
2. Four confidential contact groups, two of which will occur in parallel at any given time.

The schedule of negotiations for the INC-5.2 plastic treaty negotiations are as follows:

• August 5: Opening Plenary. No statements from Member States, but accredited observers might be able to make statements during a 30-minute session. Organizational matters will be  addressed, including the rules of procedure and adoption of the agenda.
• August 5-8: Contact Groups meet. Each group negotiates a different set of articles in the treaty text.
• August 9: “Stocktake” Plenary. Where the chairs of each Contact Group will report on their progress
• August 10: Informal Consultations between members (no formal convenings).
• August 11-14: Contact Groups continue to meet.
• August 14: Closing Plenary.

A number of side events will take place both before the opening plenary on August 5 and while the negotiations are underway. Accredited and credentialed observers can attend the plenary sessions and will work to express their points of view to country representatives where possible.

OpenOceans work indirectly addressed in the draft treaty text

OpenOceans Global’s OpenOceansOcean Plastic Pathways (OPPs) initiative is indirectly but substantively addressed in the current treaty draft in "Article 9, Existing Plastic Pollution."

Each Party should, taking into account national circumstances and capabilities:

a) identify, evaluate, and monitor locations or accumulation zones most affected by existing plastic pollution within its national jurisdiction, and cooperate, as appropriate, with other Parties, relevant international or regional organizations or other stakeholders with respect to existing plastic pollution in areas beyond national jurisdiction; and

b) take appropriate removal measures in an environmentally sound manner, including clean-up activities in such identified affected locations or accumulation zones within areas of national jurisdiction and cooperate, as appropriate, to do so in areas beyond national jurisdiction.

We will be pointing this out in our discussions in Geneva. While numerous issues of concern throughout the plastic supply chain must be addressed, most will take a substantial amount of time to be agreed upon and implemented. In the interim, it is imperative to document and intercept the sources of macroplastic before that plastic reaches the world’s shorelines and the ocean. That is the intent of OpenOceans' OPPs initiative.