The plastics treaty that still is not a treaty

In March 2022, the United Nations Environment Assembly adopted a historic resolution to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, addressing the full life cycle of plastic, from production and design to disposal, with the aim of completing the work by the end of 2024. That deadline has passed, and as of November 2026 there is still no treaty. The story of 2026 is the story of a process trying to restart after collapse.

The fifth negotiating session, INC-5, was held in parts: in Busan, South Korea, in November and December 2024, and in Geneva, Switzerland, in August 2025. The Geneva session ended without agreement, with countries divided over whether the treaty should limit plastic production and phase out hazardous chemicals, or confine itself largely to waste management, recycling, and national discretion. More than 100 countries expressed support for some form of production control, but a smaller group of oil-producing and “like-minded” countries resisted, and the tradition of consensus decision-making gave them an effective veto. The final plenary in Geneva was called with only 40 minutes' notice at 5:30 a.m. after marathon sessions, a procedural chaos that many delegations and observers criticised.

2026 brought procedure, not substance. Following the resignation of the former chair, the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee held a one-day resumed session, INC-5.3, on 7 February 2026 at the Geneva International Conference Centre, for organisational and administrative purposes only, including the election of a new chair. No substantive negotiations were held. In August 2026 the new chair, Julio Cordono, released an Aid to Negotiations document after months of informal and closed-door talks, intended to support further closed meetings in Bangkok from 27 to 30 September 2026 and a resumption of formal negotiations at INC-5.4 in March 2027. Campaigners, including the Environmental Investigation Agency, said the document retreated from Geneva's ambition rather than advancing it, and noted that civil society groups were not granted access to the talks that preceded it.

The central dispute remains unchanged: whether the treaty addresses plastic at the point of production or only at the point of disposal. A treaty focused on waste management alone will not reduce the volume of plastic being made, and production is projected to keep rising. Until that question is answered, the process will keep producing documents about negotiations rather than a treaty about plastic.