In March 2022 the UN Environment Assembly agreed to negotiate a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution. An Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) met in Punta del Este (2022), Paris and Nairobi (2023), Ottawa (April 2024) and Busan (November–December 2024) without agreement.
A resumed session in Geneva in August 2025 collapsed over four issues: whether to cap plastic production, how to regulate chemicals of concern, how to finance implementation, and whether decisions could be taken by vote rather than consensus. The chair resigned. A one-day procedural session on 7 February 2026 elected Julio Cordano of Chile as the new chair. In August 2026 he released a non-negotiated 'Aid to Negotiations' reference text, and closed consultations were held in Bangkok on 27–30 September 2026. The next formal session, INC-5.4, is scheduled for March 2027.
The process matters because a treaty is the only mechanism that could bind producer countries to reduce plastic output and regulate additives globally.
Campaigners argue the 2026 reference text retreats on production and chemicals, and civil society was excluded from the Bangkok talks. A treaty focused only on waste management would fall far short of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)'s 'Global Ambition' scenario.