{"id":9856,"date":"2025-08-25T09:15:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T06:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/?p=9856"},"modified":"2025-09-03T10:50:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T07:50:17","slug":"inc-5-2-talks-collapse-without-agreement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/inc-5-2-talks-collapse-without-agreement\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Plastics Treaty INC-5.2: Talks Collapse Without Agreement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The second part of the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2), convened from August 5 to 15, 2025 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, represented what many falsely hoped would be the final push toward a legally binding global plastics treaty to curb plastic pollution from production to disposal.<\/p><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 ez-toc-wrap-center counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title ez-toc-toggle\" style=\"cursor:pointer\">TABLE OF CONTENTS<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/inc-5-2-talks-collapse-without-agreement\/#Before_the_Geneva_Talks\" >Before the Geneva Talks<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/inc-5-2-talks-collapse-without-agreement\/#Main_Points_During_the_Negotiations\" >Main Points During the Negotiations<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/inc-5-2-talks-collapse-without-agreement\/#Draft_Text_Rejected\" >Draft Text Rejected<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/inc-5-2-talks-collapse-without-agreement\/#Deep_Divisions_Surfaced\" >Deep Divisions Surfaced<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/inc-5-2-talks-collapse-without-agreement\/#Civil_Society_Voices_Spoke_Out\" >Civil Society Voices Spoke Out<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/inc-5-2-talks-collapse-without-agreement\/#After_the_Collapse\" >After the Collapse<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/inc-5-2-talks-collapse-without-agreement\/#No_Treaty_and_No_Timeline_for_Now\" >No Treaty and No Timeline for Now<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/inc-5-2-talks-collapse-without-agreement\/#Frustration_and_Disappointment\" >Frustration and Disappointment<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/inc-5-2-talks-collapse-without-agreement\/#Future_Action\" >Future Action<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/inc-5-2-talks-collapse-without-agreement\/#Conclusion\" >Conclusion<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Before_the_Geneva_Talks\"><\/span><strong>Before the Geneva Talks<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The European Union <a href=\"https:\/\/environment.ec.europa.eu\/news\/eu-seeks-ambitious-agreement-tackle-plastic-pollution-2025-08-05_en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">pushed<\/a> for ambitious measures, including <strong>restrictions on plastic production and hazardous chemicals<\/strong>. Civil society groups and scientists backed this approach, citing the mounting costs of pollution to ecosystems, economies, and public health. But concerns about the process grew before the talks even began. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2025\/jul\/23\/total-infiltration-how-plastics-industry-swamped-vital-global-treaty-talks?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Reports<\/a> revealed a record number of lobbyists from fossil fuel and petrochemical industries (over 230 in total) outnumbering many country delegations and casting <strong>doubt<\/strong> <strong>on whether science and equity would prevail in the negotiations<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Main_Points_During_the_Negotiations\"><\/span><strong>Main Points During the Negotiations<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Draft_Text_Rejected\"><\/span><strong>Draft Text Rejected<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Midway through the session, INC Chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso released a new draft treaty. To the dismay of many delegations, the text excluded <strong>binding limits on plastic production.<\/strong> The omission sparked backlash from the High Ambition Coalition and NGOs, who argued that without production caps, the treaty could not deliver real change.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Deep_Divisions_Surfaced\"><\/span><strong>Deep Divisions Surfaced<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Key disagreements centered on whether the treaty should include mandatory production limits, hazardous chemical controls, and financial support for global south implementation, or remain focused on voluntary waste management and recycling.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Additionally, the <strong>requirement of consensus for text adoption<\/strong> meant even a single bloc could veto proposals. Oil-producing nations leveraged the previous to stall progress, despite broad support from <strong>over 70 countries<\/strong> for strong action on plastic production and chemical safety.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Civil_Society_Voices_Spoke_Out\"><\/span><strong>Civil Society Voices Spoke Out<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Civil society groups also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.environewsnigeria.com\/plastics-treaty-negotiations-made-achieving-an-inclusive-just-transition-impossible-groups\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">voiced<\/a> <strong>frustration<\/strong>. Indigenous representatives, waste pickers, and other communities said they were sidelined while industry voices dominated. \u201cA treaty about us, without us, is erasing history,\u201d one delegate warned. Environmental organizations cautioned that without stronger commitments, the negotiations risked wasting what many see as a once-in-a-generation opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-9851\" src=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Global-Plastics-Treaty-INC-5.2-Talks-Collapse-Without-Agreement-1024x701.png\" alt=\"Global Plastics Treaty INC-5.2 Talks Collapse Without Agreement \" width=\"1024\" height=\"701\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Global-Plastics-Treaty-INC-5.2-Talks-Collapse-Without-Agreement-1024x701.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Global-Plastics-Treaty-INC-5.2-Talks-Collapse-Without-Agreement-300x205.png 300w, https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Global-Plastics-Treaty-INC-5.2-Talks-Collapse-Without-Agreement-768x525.png 768w, https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Global-Plastics-Treaty-INC-5.2-Talks-Collapse-Without-Agreement-1536x1051.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Global-Plastics-Treaty-INC-5.2-Talks-Collapse-Without-Agreement-2048x1401.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"After_the_Collapse\"><\/span><strong>After the Collapse<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"No_Treaty_and_No_Timeline_for_Now\"><\/span><strong>No Treaty and No Timeline for Now<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">By the end of eleven days of talks, <strong>no agreement was reached<\/strong>. INC-5.2 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/sustainability\/climate-energy\/plastic-pollution-treaty-stalled-geneva-talks-end-without-deal-2025-08-15\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">closed without consensus<\/a> and without a plan for when negotiations would resume. Delegates expressed disappointment, with South Africa\u2019s representative noting how far apart national positions remained. David Azoulay of the Center for International Environmental Law described the outcome bluntly: \u201can abject failure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Frustration_and_Disappointment\"><\/span><strong>Frustration and Disappointment<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Civil society reactions were equally sharp. Groups including Friends of the Earth and IUCN said <strong>the process had been undermined by corporate capture<\/strong>, pointing to the overwhelming presence of fossil fuel lobbyists in Geneva.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Future_Action\"><\/span><strong>Future Action <\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Despite the setback, many organizations emphasized that <strong>the effort is not over<\/strong>. Campaigners vowed to regroup and build pressure outside the negotiating halls, with hopes that future rounds will restore ambition and deliver the robust, enforceable treaty that scientists and communities say is essential.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Conclusion\"><\/span><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The collapse of INC-5.2 underscored the difficulty of balancing global ambition with industrial interests. More than one hundred countries arrived in Geneva determined to push for a science-based agreement to cut production and regulate chemicals. Yet a smaller group of petrochemical-aligned nations blocked those measures, leaving the process stalled and the world\u2019s plastic crisis unchecked.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">No new timeline for talks has been set, and the road ahead looks increasingly uncertain. Still, the urgency has not diminished. Plastic waste continues to flood oceans, rivers, and communities at record levels. Whether world leaders can overcome political and industrial resistance in future rounds will determine if this treaty becomes a turning point, or another missed chance in the fight against plastic pollution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The second part of the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2), convened from August 5 to 15, 2025 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, represented what many falsely hoped would be the final push toward a legally binding global plastics treaty to curb plastic pollution from production to disposal. &nbsp; Before the&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9852,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,546,543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en","category-corporate-updates-en","category-advocacy-enforcement-en","category-28","category-546","category-543","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9856"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9857,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9856\/revisions\/9857"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}