Negotiating the Global Plastics Treaty

In March 2022, during the resumed fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA 5.2), Resolution 5/14 was adopted, initiating efforts to develop an international legally binding instrument to address plastic pollution, including pollution of the marine environment. This resolution resulted in the formation of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC), which was tasked with negotiating a treaty through five scheduled sessions between late 2022 and 2024. Despite this timeline, the fifth session (INC-5.1) concluded without a finalised text. To continue the process, a resumed session (INC-5.2) was convened in August, but negotiating countries failed to finalise the text due to the significant difficulty of bridging their divergent views.