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, , - Posted on August 15, 2025

Civil society perseveres in the face of a deeply flawed Plastics Treaty negotiations process and demands that countries take decisive action

Geneva, Switzerland – The resumed fifth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2) for a global agreement to end plastic pollution has adjourned after a haphazard process that extended the negotiations for an extra day, but ended without a clear agreement on the path forward. Civil society urges world leaders to persevere towards a strong, legally binding treaty that cuts plastic production and protects human health, human rights, and the environment. 

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The majority of countries, including the Pacific Small Island Developing States, the European Union, and champion countries in Latin America and Africa, are aligned in key provisions to address the plastic pollution crisis across the life cycle—such as addressing plastic production, banning toxic chemicals, and setting clear financial mechanisms for implementation. Yet, a handful of oil and plastic-producing countries—Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United States, among others—have gotten away with obstructing the process, which has been fixated on an unachievable consensus. If ambitious nations want to stop the endless loop of blocked deals, they must find a new path to advance the negotiations.

Despite a lack of space for interventions and restricted access throughout the process, Indigenous Peoples, frontline and fenceline communities, waste pickers, workers, scientists, and civil society have consistently brought their views into the heart of these corporate-heavy negotiations. Their knowledge, experience, and expertise have been instrumental in shifting the narrative on plastic pollution from a narrow focus on marine litter to a widespread affirmation that plastic pollutes throughout its entire life cycle. Their work highlighted countries’ duty to place human health and human rights at the core of the treaty negotiations.

As delegates leave Geneva, observers emphasize the need for a clear and effective process moving forward that ensures the majority of countries can work together to fulfill the mandate that brought them here - to protect the world and future generations from plastic pollution. The last ten days have seen a majority of countries finding further alignment on key elements for an effective treaty, and rejecting a weak treaty text; they must now turn their words into collective and decisive action. Meanwhile, the fight against plastic pollution continues in various forms across the world. Frontline communities are challenging - including through legal avenues - harmful facilities and practices, such as petrochemical production and expansion, incineration, and waste colonialism. NGOs and communities, together with local authorities and (small) businesses, are supporting strong regulatory frameworks at the national and local level, while implementing zero-waste solutions, including reuse and refill systems, paving the path towards a future free from plastic pollution. 

Break Free From Plastic members react to the end of the Plastics Treaty INC-5.2:

Fabienne McLellan, Managing Director, OceanCare (Switzerland), said:

“Despite the disappointing outcome, these negotiations have shown both the best and worst of multilateral diplomacy. We witnessed passionate efforts from over 120 countries – including progressive leaders like Colombia, Panama, Fiji, the UK and the EU – standing firm for science-based measures against enormous pressure from the petrochemical states. The process itself resembled climate COPs more than traditional environmental agreements, with the same fierce resistance from vested interests but also remarkable determination from the majority to push for real action. What's encouraging is that this has built coalitions and raised global awareness about plastic pollution in ways we've never seen before.”

Larisa Orbe, Acción Ecológica México (México), said: 

“Organizations that see the impact of plastic pollution on communities and nature every day will not stop. We will continue to fight for a plastic-free world by promoting policies in our countries that protect us and we are ready to continue supporting our governments in making the best decisions. The last few years have been a great learning experience for the organizations that have followed the negotiations. We are prepared to continue fighting and making progress so that future generations of all living beings can live in a world free of plastics.”

Jo Banner, Co-Founder, The Descendants Project (U.S.), said: 

“Although the current round of negotiations to establish a plastics pollution treaty is a failure, it is a step forward on the path to developing an instrument that will protect frontline communities. Fenceline communities, like mine in “Louisiana’s Cancer Alley,”  suffer immensely from the extraction and production of plastic. It is encouraging to see the majority of countries listening to our interventions and pushing back against petrostates that are aiming to drown us in trash and smother us with toxic chemicals by continuing their advocacy for plastic production. Yet, fenceline community members are still here, more passionate than ever to do their part in establishing an effective treaty. Now it is time for Member States to do theirs. Our movement will only grow stronger as we continue to engage with scientists, finance experts, Indigenous knowledge holders, and other frontline advocates, demanding a stop to plastic production. It is time to break the chains of the modern-day slavery of plastic and free communities who have lived with the sacrifice of their human rights for too long.”

Pui Yi Wong, Researcher at  Basel Action Network (Malaysia), said: 

“This process of negotiation at the plastics treaty INCs is fundamentally flawed. The same arguments have been repeated for more than two years, with no convergence in sight. We should not waste any more precious time and resources doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome. The process must be changed, including the consideration of voting for decision-making. The plastic crisis is worsening every second. Importantly for the Global South, millions of kilograms of plastic waste continue to be exported to low-income countries, overwhelming their domestic waste management systems. Several Global South countries had called for prior notification and consent for all plastic waste exports in the treaty agreement, but their demands had been ignored by other member states. This, coupled with no controls on the transparency of chemicals nor planned phase-out of hazardous chemicals, exposes recipient countries and communities to serious harms.”

Rico Euripidou, Chemicals and Campaign Support, groundWork South Africa (South Africa), said: 

“Plastic harms health along its whole life cycle. In particular, the chemicals added to give plastics their properties are where the scientific evidence of the health harms of plastics is strongest. To address the most harmful of these chemicals routinely added to plastics and plastics  products, traceability and tracking of these chemicals must be a mandatory requirement alongside elements to measure the health harms in the future treaty.”

Additional reactions from BFFP members and allies (including additional countries and languages) are being added here.

 

The last 24 hours

The INC-5.2 negotiation process had many flaws and persistent challenges, as demonstrated by the INC Chair’s surprising statement shortly before midnight on what was supposed to be the final scheduled day of negotiations—following hours of delay that left country ministers, delegates, and observers alike waiting and in the dark—wherein he announced that the meeting would be adjourned until a time “to be determined” the following day. Plenary reconvened at 5:30 am with limited advance notice—running the spirits of small delegations from the Global South at a complete and utter loss. The Chair also mentioned that the session would be adjourned after observer interventions, but then adjourned it without doing so—continuing the trend of limited participation for civil society, scientists, wastepickers, and Indigenous Peoples throughout the negotiations. 

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Notes to the editor

  • What text will be negotiated next? Negotiators will revert back to the Busan text, as both texts presented by the Chair in Geneva were rejected.
  • What happens to the INC Chair? The INC Chair is still in place. It’s an elected position.
  • What's next for the negotiations? The negotiations will continue, but it’s unclear when and where. The bureau will need to meet and determine that (which is an elected body with representatives from the different UN member regions). Member States could also decide to leave this process altogether and do something different.

About BFFP — #BreakFreeFromPlastic is a global movement envisioning a future free from plastic pollution. Since its launch in 2016, more than 2,700 organizations and 11,000 individual supporters from across the world have joined the movement to demand massive reductions in single-use plastics and push for lasting solutions to the plastic pollution crisis. BFFP member organizations and individuals share the values of environmental protection and social justice and work together through a holistic approach to bring about systemic change. This means tackling plastic pollution across the whole plastics value chain – from extraction to disposal – focusing on prevention rather than cure and providing effective solutions. www.breakfreefromplastic.org.

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