Highlights and images for 13 August 2025

On the penultimate day of the resumed fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2) to develop an international legally binding instrument (ILBI) on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, the tension was palpable.  

Delegates convened in contact groups in the morning to continue discussions on [international cooperation] [cooperation in] capacity building, technical assistance and technology transfer [, including international cooperation] (Article 12) and to hear progress reports from informal and informal-informal groups on: 

• [sustainable consumption and production of] [product design] [problematic] plastic products (Article 3); 
• plastic product design (Article 5); 
• releases and leakages (Article 7); 
• plastic waste management (Article 8);  
• [[existing][and][legacy] plastic [waste] pollution] [remediation of plastic pollution] (Article 9);  
• [just] transition[[s] [for workers]] (Article 10); and 
• reporting (Article 15). 

Want to dig deeper into today's talks? Read the full Earth Negotiations Bulletin daily report.

The contact groups then closed, with contact group Co-Chairs explaining that they would report the progress of discussions from the groups to plenary. Many delegations in all the contact groups registered their concern about the way forward, with some stating that any new text must reflect the convergences and divergences discussed within the groups. Many called for continuing in a “country driven process.”  

Delegates then met in an afternoon plenary, where INC Chair Luis Vayas (Ecuador) presented a Chair’s Draft Text Proposal and outlined the way forward for negotiations. He noted that the draft text was an attempt to capture the elements that could lay the foundation for agreement this week and “deliver on our shared responsibility.” He proposed that: he would meet with regional groups and states to hear views on the proposed draft text; he would prepare a revised text by Thursday, 14 August, based on these consultations; and the Committee would then forward the revised text to the Legal Drafting Group on Thursday, 14 August. 

Many delegations expressed their deep disappointment with the new draft proposal, with several underlining that it is “unacceptable,” “unbalanced,” and cannot be the basis for further negotiations. Among the concerns was the lack of global and legally binding measures, the exclusion of upstream measures, and the exclusion of an article on health. Several others pointed out that the draft crosses delegations’ “red lines.”  

Delegations did not support the proposed working modalities, with Costa Rica proposing that the INC Chair convene an informal Heads of Delegation meeting to make progress. After a protracted discussion, INC Chair Vayas proposed holding regional and other consultations later in the evening, and convening a Heads of Delegation meeting on Thursday morning, 14 August.