Highlights and images for 7 August 2025

Delegates dug deeper into the text at 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. They addressed core issues touching on both the scope and implementation of the future treaty.

Over the course of the day, many delegations expressed deep discomfort with the process for deliberations, which involved going through the large number of submissions by delegations. They voiced concerns about the potential of a ballooning text at this stage of the negotiations. The silver lining was that some of the candid discussions being held in informal settings throughout the day shed light on potential landing areas for negotiations during contact groups.

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

In all the contact groups, delegates were presented with the choice of either mandating their Co-Chairs to prepare new text based on discussions or taking the text into their own hands in informal discussions. An “assembled text” representing areas of convergence from all the groups is expected to be compiled on Friday, 8 August.

In their morning discussions on capacity building, technical assistance and technology transfer, including international cooperation, delegates engaged in line-by-line textual negotiations. The debate is well known: will technology transfer be done on mutually agreed terms, or will technology be provided on concessional and preferential terms? To make progress, are there lessons to be learned from other conventions, so that the treaty can move the needle in effectively addressing new, existing, and legacy plastic waste?

In parallel discussions on existing plastic pollution, delegates debated the historical responsibility of developed countries to address this type of waste, with some insisting that the ILBI should focus on this “legacy plastic pollution” while others expressed their disappointment with some countries that are refusing to tackle upstream pollution sources. A group of countries also tabled a proposal for the creation of a remediation mechanism to address plastic pollution in the marine environment, with special attention to areas beyond national jurisdiction.

In resumed discussions on the design of plastic products, delegates spent time populating the Chair’s Text on this article. Divergent views emerged on whether to embed elements of sustainable production and chemicals of concern within the article, and how to address trade considerations, if at all.

Delegates also addressed a possible article on health, discussing a number of things, including the health risks associated with plastic pollution, available scientific evidence, the One Health Approach, and whether health should be addressed in a standalone article. They also engaged in a brief deliberation on the composition of the proposed implementation and compliance committee.

Contact and informal groups will continue to meet during the day on Friday, 8 August.