From 5 to 15 August, representatives from 183 governments and more than 400 stakeholder organizations gathered in Geneva for the resumed fifth session of the International Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution (INC-5.2). After ten days of intense work, INC- 5.2 was adjourned without an agreement.

Since the negotiation process began in March 2022, with the adoption of UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) resolution 5/14, the INC has met six times, spurred by a growing body of evidence demonstrates that plastic pollution has a range of harmful impacts on human health and the environment across the full life cycle of plastics, -- from production through product design to waste management as well as existing plastic pollution. The negotiations are taking place against the backdrop of the diverse economic, social, and environmental priorities, circumstances and capabilities of members, as well as significant geopolitical tensions. Notably, in a plastics economy that is global, all countries are consumers of plastics, and most countries are involved in one or many stages of the life cycle of the vast array of plastic products used daily across the world. Annual trade in plastics, for instance, is worth over $1.2 trillion per year and 78% of plastics are traded internationally.

To anchor their approach to negotiations, a diverse and growing group of countries has emphasised the importance of grounding the treaty in the latest scientific evidence about the scale and scope of the plastic pollution crisis, and the importance of fulfilling the UNEA mandate, which called for a comprehensive approach that addresses that full life cycle of plastics.

With this in mind, in a series of joint statements over the past year, these countries have emphasised a number of elements essential to an ambitious and effective treaty, including.

• global measures to address problematic plastic products, including chemicals of concern in plastic products;
• obligations relating to plastic product design; 
• addressing unsustainable levels of plastic production and consumption; 
• an effective financing mechanism that is commensurate with the ambition of the treaty text; and
• ensuring the treaty can evolve over time in response to emerging scientific evidence.

In the final stages of INC 5.2 in Geneva, the INC Chair presented two new iterations of Chair’s text for consideration. In regard to the first Chair’s text, a broad majority of countries presented a united voice calling for more ambition.  The second Chair’s text, shared in the early hours of 15 August was generally viewed as an improvement. While emphasising the need for further work to sufficiently address key elements vital to ending plastic pollution, ambitious countries described the second text as a workable basis for further negotiations and underlined their commitment to continuing to work with the full INC membership to find common ground.  Nonetheless, a small group of countries, including the United States and Gulf countries, blocked a decision to proceed on this basis.  

With next steps unclear at this stage, the INC negotiating session was suspended, but not closed, meaning that governments left the door open to resume negotiations. 

Despite strong disappointment with the pace and outcome of negotiations at INC5.2, the talks in Geneva highlighted the readiness of most governments to engage in serious negotiations for an effective treaty and their commitment to a multilateral outcome. Critically, in the final days, a broad range of governments intensified work to find ways forward on some of the most contentious issues of negotiations, such as global measures on products and chemicals, production and consumption of plastics, and financing, providing indicators that some core issues may still be possible to resolve with more time.

Since the adoption of UNEA resolution 5/14 in March 2022, TESS has supported the work of the INC  providing research, analysis and data, and opportunities for informal dialogue among the diversity of governments and stakeholders. We have also supported the Secretariat Function of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, a diverse group of 75 countries. Looking ahead, TESS will continue to support a treaty that is effective, ambitious, fair and balanced --  combining common global rules with a responsiveness to different national circumstances and capabilities, coupled with equally ambitious support for implementation, and underpinned by the twin goal of protecting human health and the environment from plastic pollution.