Plastics Negotiations Update - Part 2: Post-INC 5.3 to the present
Recently, there have been some significant developments regarding negotiations, convened by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) for a global plastics treaty. This is the second of two brief blogs bringing things up-to-date. The first covered the one-day INC 5.3 held in Geneva, in early February, 2026.
As mentioned in Part 1, a new INC President,
Ambassador Julio Cordano of Chile, was elected at INC 5.3 (along with a new
rapporteur and Bureau member representing SIDs countries). He immediately got
down to work, sending an introductory letter to delegations and stakeholders
shortly after his election. While his “campaign” speeches before INC 5.3 were
short on specifics, his first letter to delegations (dated 19 February, 2026) was
a good start. He reached out to all the “factions” of governments[1],
declaring his wish, as Chair, to re-engage in substantive discussions as soon
as possible, under clearly set out principles of “inclusivity, transparency and
predictability.” He also put forth laudable principles which, when followed,
would take into account the quite varied positions of member country
delegations, in the hope of bridging the wide chasms of existing differences
between countries. In this letter, he also addressed issues related to plastics
throughout their life cycle, consistent with the original UN Environment
Assembly (UNEA) resolution (5/14) which set forth the mandate for the
negotiations. Lastly, his letter was peppered with references to “Observers”
taking part in the negotiations, including listing specific categories of
Observers as needing to be listened to and incorporated into the negotiations –
including the engagement of indigenous people and local communities, in
particular. This was, indeed, a promising start to his time as INC President.
In the margins of INC 5.3 (a one-day meeting
held in Geneva on 7 February, 2026) a small, informal group of about 20
countries met to try to find a way forward in the long-stalled substantive
negotiations. While this group was not necessarily fully representative of the
overall makeup of the UN Member States involved in the negotiations, informal
gatherings such as this have been encouraged throughout the process as one
possible way to break the logjam in the negotiations. This group, with the
addition of Kuwait and the new INC President as an observer, agreed to meet in
Japan from 1-3 March, 2026.
The March “informal” in Japan reportedly had as
its purpose a focus on exchanging views on what the core elements of a treaty
would be, and to examine where there are continuing differences between country
delegations, with the hope that constructive discussions would take place. Draft negotiating text would not be an
outcome of this informal meeting.
-
Discussions
on sustainable production and consumption of plastics; plastic products;
financial resources and mechanisms; and cross-cutting elements; and
-
Agreement
that such informal discussions as these (and smaller discussions in the margins
of this informal) were immensely valuable; and that subsequent informals would be
held in Dakar, Senegal (co-sponsored by the UK) in May, 2026; and in Kuwait on
subsequent dates to be determined.
Countries included in the informal were: Antigua and Barbuda, Brazil, China, Colombia, Egypt, Ghana, India, Japan, Kuwait, Norway, Palau, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States and the EU (and the newly installed Chilean INC President as an observer)[2].
In terms of analysis of the informal, it seems that there were possibly significant discussions on the above-listed issues, which seemed to be consistent with the original UNEA mandate (Resolution 5/14). However, the informal only included a small subset of the countries involved in the negotiations among UN Member States; and, according to IPEN[3] constituted a significant bias towards the “like-minded” countries who do not appear to support a legally-binding instrument. Nevertheless, this was an informal meeting, and thus may not have a significant influence on the eventual outcomes of the treaty negotiations. Some countries who were not included in this informal, and some stakeholders outside of government, have been critical of the informal in terms of its apparent lack of transparency, and its less-than-fully-participatory nature (which seemingly contradicts the 19 February letter of the new INC President to all INC participants). Please note, however, the INC President was invited late in the day, only as an observer.
Immediately following the informal
in Japan, the INC President reported to Regional Groups via online meetings. Ambassador
Cordano, in coordination and with the participation of the respective Bureau
members for each region, gave his analysis of the informals and announced that
he would soon be releasing a “Roadmap” with his plans to move forward with the
negotiations.
In the first part of March, 2026,
INC President Ambassador Cordano released “Draft Elements of an INC Roadmap” in
advance of a scheduled 12 March online Head of Delegation meeting. The main
elements of the draft are as follows:
-
Regular
meetings of the Heads of Delegations, both online (every 4-6 weeks, with the
first meeting on 12 March and a second virtual meeting in late April and late
May/early June.
-
Regular
meetings (online) of the INC President with all Regional Groups,
-
Online
consultations with stakeholders are also proposed to be held on a regular basis
(with the first set for 24 March).
-
An
in-person Heads of Delegation Meeting in Nairobi from 30 June to 3 July (with
one day prior for Regional Meetings) with a new and comprehensive Chair’s draft
text for discussion.
-
In
addition, subsequent in-person meetings of negotiators (around
September/October 2026) are proposed.
-
And,
finally, INC 5.4 is proposed at a place to be determined in the last quarter of
2026 or the first quarter of 2027.
Analysis: The Roadmap and meetings to-date
constitute an attempt to rescue what, are thus far, an almost futile set of
negotiations. Ambassador Cordano has a very high mountain to climb to achieve
the badly-needed goal of an effective global treaty on plastics, consistent
with UNEA Resolution 5/14. In addition, continued “informals” may have a
greater impact on the negotiations at INC 5.4 than the extensive list of
meetings proposed in the draft roadmap of Ambassador Cordano. In addition,
while his letter to participants of 19 February clearly puts forth a commitment
to the inclusive participation of stakeholders outside of government, it is
concerning to see this draft roadmap makes only a passing mention of such
participation. The meeting of negotiators proposed for September/October would
be an ideal opportunity to include Observers.
In conclusion, Ambassador Cordano’s
accession as INC President is a hopeful development in what otherwise has been
a disastrous set of negotiations. Adjustments to his draft Roadmap to include
truly inclusive negotiations can lead us down the path to the desired goal – a
strong UN Convention on plastics, consistent with UNEA Resolution 5/14. Failing
that, other paths forward (such as an Ottawa Convention-style process[4])
would need to be considered.
Any questions? Email me pls: cboljkovac@gmail.com (the opinions are 100% my own).
[1][1]
Principally, the “Like-Minded
Group” of countries largely pushing for a treaty with minimal effectiveness,
and a “High-Ambition Coalition” of countries calling for a more comprehensive
plastics treaty governing all aspects of their life cycle.
[2] International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), March, 2026, Open Letter to Plastics Treaty Delegates. https://ipen.org/documents/open-letter-plastics-treaty-delegates
[3] Ibid.
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