Last-Ditch Effort for a Plastics Treaty Kicks Off in Geneva

Diplomats from around the world have gathered in Geneva, Switzerland, to attempt to reach a plastics treaty that will satisfy stakeholders who are, at the moment, very far apart from a mutually agreeable position.

The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on Plastic Pollution session 5.2 began August 5 and runs until August 14, 2025. The first part of the fifth session (INC 5.1) took place in Busan, Republic of Korea, from November 25 to December 1, 2024. INC 5.1 was intended to be the final conference, with a binding treaty as its result, but negotiations broke down, requiring this “final” session in Geneva.

“You face ten days of intensive negotiations,” said Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Inger Andersen in her opening remarks. “You know that you will have to work hard and with determination, as you have done before. You know that you will have to work in the spirit of solidarity and compromise, as you have done before. But I believe you can leave Geneva with a treaty.”