In 2015, the Paris Agreement provided a critical signal of the political will behind global climate action. Now, United Nations members seeking a binding international treaty on plastic pollution will reveal how serious world governments are in their pursuit of the conditions for a circular economy. 

Businesses involved in the vast global plastics sector were watching closely in the final week of April as diplomats gathered in Ottawa for the fourth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on Plastic Pollution. The INC’s mandate is to complete negotiations on a new legally binding international instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, at its fifth and possibly final session in Busan in December. And a recent shift in the US position on the treaty may give those efforts a boost.

Toward binding international commitments on plastics

In March 2022, nearly 200 country members voted to adopt UNEA Resolution 5/14. This Resolution established the INC, directing it to negotiate a comprehensive, legally binding approach to managing plastics throughout their full life cycle.[1] A final treaty would create a set of binding legal rules. But the degree to which these rules will include in-country obligations – rather than voluntary targets, like the Paris Agreement – remains unclear.

The INC’s unusually tight two-year timeline reflects UNEA’s growing sense of urgency on this issue after nearly a decade of UNEA actions on plastics.[2] The Ottawa session (INC-4) follows negotiations in Punta del Este in 2022 (INC-1) and in Paris (INC-2) and Nairobi (INC-3) in 2023. 

The issue of new obligations looms large in these negotiations. The first draft text of the treaty emerged in 2023 and has been the basis of negotiations since then. Significant gaps and sticking points remain, and progress has been halting. The Ottawa session saw the first open exchange between delegations outlining their positions on the topics the treaty may cover, and the draft text produced at INC-4 reflects significantly divergent views. Negotiators at INC-5 have much ground to cover if they are to reconcile these views and reach agreement on a final comprehensive instrument this year.   

Negotiators are not the only stakeholders to participate in this process. A wide variety of private sector and civil society representatives were also among the more than 2,500 attendees at INC-4. For instance, the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty, with support from more than 200 companies, has proposed targets to reduce annual plastic pollution volume by 80 percent by 2040 and close to 100 percent by 2060. Like many national governments and other stakeholders, the Business Coalition supports a circular economy approach, which means keeping already-produced plastic items in circulation as long as possible. Other private sector and civil society participants have included the Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty, International Alliance of Waste-Pickers, Women in Informal Employment Globalizing and Organizing, and the public-private partnership End Plastic Pollution International Collaborative. 

The sticking points

Overarching divisions include the scope of the ultimate agreement; whether the treaty should include limits or phasedowns for producing certain or all plastics; how to finance the treaty’s goals; whether and how it should address primary plastic polymers and chemicals; extended producer responsibility (EPR); and ensuring a “just transition,” among others. 

The role of recycling in the agreement is especially difficult. Obligations related to EPR and waste management will require significant financial support for some countries to implement, as would proposed recycling incentives. These financial considerations will hamper or unlock progress in the negotiations. Two expert groups will work between now and December to develop potential financial solutions and approaches to recyclability.

Negotiations have largely focused on two perceived camps. In one, countries whose economies depend on the oil and gas production from which plastics are derived predominate. The other is the “High Ambition Coalition” comprising most industrialized democracies and several developing countries, including several small island states. Until quite recently, the United States was seen as favoring the former camp. But in the time since the Ottawa INC round, the Biden administration has announced a pivot toward stronger global restrictions on plastic production, aligning itself more with the High Ambition countries. This move may signal a shift in the negotiating dynamic and may bolster efforts for a stronger international agreement. (For more on this development, see our alert, US makes critical shift in position on global plastics treaty)

What companies should know 

The INC’s work is a prominent piece of a global puzzle around plastics that also includes new recycling regulations and technologies, emerging findings in multiple scientific disciplines, dynamic litigation landscapes, and innovations at all stages of plastic products’ life cycles. As plastics production and disposal continues to increase year after year, a wide range of companies will be affected by evolving regulations around chemical constituents, polymer types, manufacturing processes, supply chains, products, packaging, retail, waste disposal, environmental impacts, and international trade constituting the plastics lifecycle. 

The outcome of the INC’s work will present significant risks and opportunities for businesses across sectors and around the world. An eventual global plastics treaty is expected to establish periodic conferences of the parties (COPs) much as parties to the UNFCCC convene annually for the UN climate conference, presenting additional opportunities to engage in an ongoing global regulatory process. 

DLA Piper’s Plastics Taskforce covers trends in plastics regulations and liability from the local to the global level. DLA Piper also has unique experience in multilateral treaty contexts as the only law firm to represent state delegations at UNFCCC COPs, and as an official legal services provider to several recent UNFCCC Presidencies. Contact any of the authors or any member of DLA Piper’s Plastics Taskforce for additional information. 

[1] UNEA Resolution 5/14, End plastic pollution: Towards an international legally binding instrument (UNEP/EA.5/Res.14 (Mar. 2, 2022)).

[2] E.g., UNEA Resolutions 1/6 (2014) (on marine plastics); 2/11 (2016) (on a product life-cycle approach); 3/7 (2018) (on the long-term elimination of ocean plastic litter); 4/6 (2019) (on developing scientific understandings of the impacts of plastics).