In March 2022, the UN Environment Assembly decided to stop plastic pollution by creating an international treaty. This treaty would cover the entire life cycle of plastics, from how they are designed and made to how they are disposed of. UN member states, which met for more than a week in Nairobi, agreed to form an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC). The INC’s job is to create a legally-binding international agreement by the end of 2024. The resolution was called "End plastic pollution: Towards an international legally binding instrument."

By 2025, the INC had held six meetings but did not make progress. Disagreements arose during the negotiations between most countries, which wanted a strong treaty, and a smaller group of petrochemical-producing nations. Some countries, including those in the High Ambition Coalition (which had 75 members as of September 2025), pushed for a strong agreement. However, the draft treaty either had many unresolved details or was too vague for these countries to accept. Critics also pointed out the influence of lobbyists. After the Geneva meeting in August 2025 failed, Inger Andersen of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which hosted the committee, said the nations needed time to regroup.

In addition to UN member state delegates, representatives from various organizations attended the meetings as observers.

Timeline

After UNEA-5.2, the mandate required the INC to begin its work by the end of 2022 with the goal of "completing a draft global legally binding agreement by the end of 2024."

Work on the treaty started with a meeting of a special group in Dakar from May 30 to June 1, 2022. During that meeting, Member States created a timeline for future meetings until the end of 2024, set rules for how meetings would be conducted, and defined the first tasks for the INC’s first meeting.

• The first meeting of the negotiating committee (INC-1) happened in Punta del Este from November 28 to December 2, 2022. The meeting included adopting the rules for how the committee would operate. Over 2,300 delegates from 160 countries attended.
• The second meeting of the negotiating committee (INC-2) occurred in Paris from May 29 to June 2, 2023.
• The third meeting (INC-3) took place from November 13 to 19, 2023, at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Headquarters in Nairobi.
• The fourth meeting (INC-4) happened from April 23 to 29, 2024, in Ottawa. At this meeting, 196 people who work for fossil fuel companies attended – more than the number of scientists.
• The fifth meeting, first part (INC-5.1), was held from November 25 to December 1, 2024, in Busan. This was originally planned to be the final round of talks, but no agreement was reached.
• The fifth meeting, second part (INC-5.2), occurred from August 5 to 15, 2025, in Geneva. The treaty was meant to be finalized at a meeting of the plenipotentiaries, but the negotiations failed, and no agreement was made.

An additional meeting took place in 2024 to help move the treaty negotiations forward (UNEA-6 in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2024).

Formats of negotiations

During INC sessions, negotiations happened in different formats.

• Contact groups: These meetings focused on specific parts of the treaty. All countries with representatives could speak, but observers could only watch. These groups often met at the same time.
• Regional meetings: These were closed meetings where a group of countries, such as those from the same UN region or coalition, discussed and agreed on positions. Some meetings allowed observers to attend, but not all.
• Informals: These were closed, informal meetings. The INC Secretariat helped organize details like time and room setup. A type of informal meeting, called "informal-informals" or "infinfs," had even more relaxed settings.
• Plenaries: These were official meetings where all negotiating countries participated. Plenaries started and ended INC sessions and shared updates on progress. They were open to observers, with live broadcasts and recordings. Some observer groups could give short speeches if allowed by the INC Secretariat. A total of 29 plenaries were held during the six negotiation sessions.

In addition to these formal formats, delegates and observers could join side events, press conferences, and similar activities.

Content

Members agreed that the treaty should apply to countries around the world, be legally enforceable, and cover all stages of plastic use, from creation to disposal. Some people say that chemicals found in plastics, like additives and substances added during manufacturing, also need to be included in the treaty.

The Earth Negotiations Bulletin gave daily updates about the progress of the negotiations.

Support for the treaty

Before UNEA-5.2, most United Nations member states said they supported a global treaty to address plastic pollution. During the treaty discussions, the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution was created with the goal of achieving a strong treaty agreement.

Other groups, such as businesses, civil society organizations, indigenous peoples, workers, trade unions, waste pickers, and scientists, also spoke publicly about the need for a treaty.

Greenpeace activists hung banners with messages like "Big Oil Polluting Inside" and "Plastic Treaty Not For Sale" at the entrance to the Palais de Nations. They also painted the road black to show that companies had too much influence on the process.

The artist Benjamin Von Wong placed an art piece at the Palais de Nations to urge world leaders to complete a strong treaty.