The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2), on formulating a Global Plastics Treaty (GPT) held in Geneva from 5–14 August 2025, ended without any treaty. An overwhelming majority of the countries rejected the idea of the “lowest common denominator”. The treaty negotiations exposed the limitations of multilateralism under the aegis of the United Nations. The rejection of a weak treaty, in a sense, is a victory for the advocates who believe that “ no treaty is better than a weak treaty.”
The way forward for the GPT could be the reopening of the mandate in the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA 7) to clarify and spell out the treaty in more detail. Another pathway could be another round of negotiations or the INC 5.3. The last and final pathway could be a coalition of the “willing” or the “high ambition nations”, including the African nations, island nations and the EU etc, to negotiate a treaty outside the ambit of the UN, like in the case of the Ottawa Treaty or the “Landmines treaty”. Whatever the case may be ahead, the INC process has highlighted the importance of looking inwards at the national level to build pressure on the national/local governments to advocate for a strong treaty at an international level.
— Energy Team at CFA
Read and Download here: Energy Matters | August 2025
