Prevent a minimal section of opposition from hindering the plastic agreement: WWF
The world is witnessing a significant push towards ending plastic pollution, with a treaty under negotiation at the UN Environment Assembly. However, the journey towards a binding agreement has been fraught with challenges due to differing opinions among nations.
Current Efforts
The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) was launched in 2022 with the goal of adopting a global plastics treaty by the end of 2024. Six rounds of negotiations have failed to reach an agreement, with the most recent round, INC-5.2, held in Geneva from August 5–15, 2025, ending without consensus among the 184 countries involved.
The proposed treaty aims to take a comprehensive, full life-cycle approach, addressing plastic from design and production to disposal and waste management. This framework is crucial for establishing international standards and targets to reduce plastic pollution.
Alternatives and Proposals
The lack of progress has led to the exploration of alternative solutions. Analysts suggest implementing majority voting to break the impasse caused by the lack of consensus. Another proposal is forming a separate treaty or coalition among countries willing to adopt stricter measures, potentially bypassing the deadlock.
Developing countries emphasize the need for financial and technological support to build adequate waste management infrastructure, which is essential for them to effectively implement the treaty. This support is crucial for ensuring the treaty is not just another unfunded mandate.
Civil society groups and initiatives like the Global Plastic Action Partnership are facilitating discussions and guiding countries in turning commitments into actionable steps. Raising awareness and pressuring governments through public campaigns can also play a significant role in pushing countries to adopt more ambitious targets and policies.
Sticking Points
The negotiations have been deadlocked by a small minority of plastic- and oil-producing countries. There is a significant divide between countries advocating for production caps on virgin plastic (supported by over 100 countries) and those favoring a focus solely on waste management and recycling (backed by petrochemical-producing countries like the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and India).
Funding for developing nations to effectively participate in the treaty's implementation is another contentious issue.
Conclusion
Finalizing the global treaty on plastic pollution is critical, given the projected increase in plastic waste and its environmental and economic impacts. Pursuing procedural reforms, parallel coalitions, and increased support for developing nations are potential pathways to overcome these challenges.
The Global Plastics Treaty, if successful, could serve as a turning point for upholding multilateralism. Mexico mobilized 95 countries supporting a global phaseout of the most harmful products and chemicals of concern, and WWF has identified four global rules to end plastic pollution, with support from at least 133 countries.
Countries banking on profiting from continued plastic production consider these measures a threat. However, the potential benefits of a cleaner environment, healthier ecosystems, and reduced economic costs associated with plastic pollution far outweigh any short-term gains.
The negotiations are ongoing, and the future of the global plastics treaty remains uncertain. But with continued efforts and global cooperation, a world free from plastic pollution may yet be within our reach.
[1] UN Environment Assembly [2] Thomson Reuters Foundation [3] WWF [4] Global Plastic Action Partnership [5] United Nations [6] SDGs
- Amidst the ongoing negotiations for a global plastics treaty at the UN Environment Assembly, science suggests implementing majority voting to break deadlocks caused by differing opinions among nations.
- Corporate responsibility lies in supporting developing countries with financial and technological means to build efficient waste management infrastructure, essential for effective implementation of the proposed treaty.
- In the face of challenges in adopting a binding agreement, civil society groups like the Global Plastic Action Partnership are working to turn commitments into actionable steps toward a circular economy.
- The negotiations are complicated by a divide between nations advocating for production caps on virgin plastic and those advocating for a focus solely on waste management and recycling, with some countries banking on continued plastic production to profit.
- The pursuit of procedural reforms, parallel coalitions, and increased support for developing nations are potential solutions to overcome the impasse in finalizing the global treaty on plastic pollution.
- The success of the Global Plastics Treaty, which aims to reduce plastic pollution and its environmental and economic impacts, could mark a turning point for upholding multilateralism and environmental-science policies in general-news, policy-and-legislation, and politics.
