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STORY: UNEP / INC-5.2 PLASTIC POLLUTION CLOSING
TRT: 03:32
SOURCE: UNEP / INC
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 15 AUGUST 2025, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Various shots, United Nations Offices in Geneva, various angles of the second part of the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Inger Andersen, Executive Director, UN Environment Programme (UNEP):
“Everybody came here with the intention to get the deal done. However, it is clear that we are living in an era of significant political complexity. We are living in a time of economic challenges and obviously multilateral complexity. But despite those profound challenges that were journeyed, despite the disappointment that we all leave with, we have to accept that significant progress was made. Progress was made in that the red lines were clarified, and progress was made in that countries discussed. Progress is made because people are demanding a treaty. Now there is a lot of hard work ahead. We did not get where we want, but people want a deal. Everyone has to understand that this work will not stop because plastic pollution will not stop. We at UNEP are here to support this process and we will not stop. We will continue to engage in the multilateral process as Member States desire, and we will also engage at the ground level with Member States, who also request in terms of programmatic support for enabling an enhanced management and an end to plastic pollution, including in the marine environment.”
3. Various shots, delegates listen to the plenary
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Inger Andersen, Executive Director, UN Environment Programme (UNEP):
“Multilateralism is never easy. And I still stand by the fact that getting a treaty, ideally in 2 or 3 years, has never been done before. Tell me of a treaty that has been done in short a time and then we can discuss.”
5. Various shots, Ambassador Luis Vayas Valdivieso, INC Chair, closes the plenary meeting
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Inger Andersen, Executive Director, UN Environment Programme (UNEP):
“At this point, it is critical that we take some time first to sleep and then to reflect and then to regroup. One of the regrouping points is obviously the United Nations Environment Assembly. In the end, this is a Member States led process, and we from the United Nations are here to support it. To the people who are disappointed, I am in that group. I believe that everyone who cares about today, tomorrow, who cares about the future of our planet, and who cares about this problem.”
7. Wide shot, Inger Andersen leaves the media stakeout zone
Following ten days of negotiations, Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) talks to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, adjourned early on 15 August without consensus on a text of the instrument. The Committee agreed to resume negotiations at a future date to be announced.
The meeting adjourned with a clearly expressed desire by Member States to continue the process, recognizing the significant difference of views between states.
This resumed fifth session (INC-5.2) saw more than 2,600 participants gather at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, including over 1,400 Member delegates from 183 countries, and close to 1,000 Observers representing over 400 organizations. Some 70 Ministers and Vice Ministers, as well as 30 other high-level representatives, also held informal roundtables on the margins of the session.
“This has been a hard-fought 10 days against the backdrop of geopolitical complexities, economic challenges, and multilateral strains. However, one thing remains clear: despite these complexities, all countries clearly want to remain at the table.
“While we did not land the treaty text we hoped for, we at UNEP will continue the work against plastic pollution – pollution that is in our groundwater, in our soil, in our rivers, in our oceans and yes, in our bodies,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
The goal of INC-5.2 was to agree on the instrument’s text and highlight unresolved issues requiring further preparatory work ahead of a diplomatic conference. The session followed a structured approach—starting with an opening plenary, transitioning into four contact groups tackling key areas like plastic design, chemicals of concern, production caps, finance, and compliance, followed by a stocktake plenary, informal consultations, and ending with a closing plenary on 15 August.
A Chair’s Text from INC-5.1 in Busan served as the starting point for negotiations at INC-5.2, with the Chair releasing a Draft Text Proposal and a Revised Text Proposal over the course of the session. Despite intensive engagement, Members of the Committee were unable to reach consensus on the proposed texts.
“Failing to reach the goal we set for ourselves may bring sadness, even frustration. Yet it should not lead to discouragement. On the contrary, it should spur us to regain our energy, renew our commitments, and unite our aspirations,” said INC Chair Ambassador Luis Vayas Valdivieso. “It has not happened yet in Geneva, but I have no doubt that the day will come when the international community will unite its will and join hands to protect our environment and safeguard the health of our people.”
This INC process kicked off in March 2022, at the resumed fifth session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2), when a historic resolution was adopted to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment.
“As this session concludes, we leave with an understanding of the challenges ahead and a renewed and shared commitment to address them,” said Jyoti Mathur-Filipp, Executive Secretary of the INC Secretariat. “Progress must now be our obligation.”
The session also involved the active participation of civil society – including Indigenous Peoples, waste pickers, artists, young people, and scientists – who raised their voices through protests, art installations, press briefings and events at and around the Palais.
The Geneva session follows INC 5.1, which took place in November/December 2024 in Busan, Republic of Korea. That meeting was preceded by four sessions: INC-1 in Punta del Este in November 2022, INC-2, held in Paris in June 2023, INC-3 in Nairobi in November 2023, and INC-4, which took place in Ottawa in April 2024.
