Highlights and images for 9 August 2025

At the halfway point, delegates considered a “snapshot of progress” of work at the resumed fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2) to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. Late in the morning, a stocktaking plenary convened, where delegates considered an “Assembled Text,” and discussed the negotiation process for the remaining days. 

In their reports to plenary, Contact Group Co-Chairs all noted the need for more time to consider almost all the articles to be included in the future treaty. They noted that some informal group meetings had taken place on Friday night to try and make additional progress, which had not been reflected in the Assembled Text. Contact Group 4 forwarded Articles 31 and 32 on depository and authentic texts to plenary, which was then sent to the Open-ended Legal Drafting Group for clearing.

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

In the ensuing discussion, delegations were united on one thing: the negotiations are moving too slowly. On this, they made several suggestions, with Colombia calling for full days of informal negotiations and the EU and China urging the INC Chair to engage in “shuttle diplomacy” to move the text forward. Many others were concerned about the “unchecked” expansion of the text, with Fiji calling for a timebound process to streamline the text. Several delegations called for a dedicated discussion on scope. 

On the way forward, INC Chair Luis Vayas underlined that “there is no more time to keep adding positions already stated,” and underscored the need for a real push to achieve “our common goal” by Thursday, 14 August. He called for continued discussions in contact and informal groups on articles that require more work and announced that he would work with the Contact Group Co-Chairs to identify articles with “unresolved issues.” 

Delegates then convened in contact and informal groups for the remainder of the day and into the night. They addressed the preamble, and articles related to issues such as plastic products, design, financial resources and mechanism, releases and leakages, and existing waste. 

In their discussions on the preamble, delegates debated, among other things, the inclusion of text relating to: the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities; the right to a clean and healthy environment; and the full lifecycle of plastic(s). On financial resources and mechanism, they opened discussions on the Co-Chairs’ text in a contact group setting and discussed whether to consider the details of the financial mechanism in the night session. 

The Committee is expected to hold candid talks in an informal setting to make progress on the text on Sunday, 10 August. Formal meetings are scheduled to recommence on Monday, 11 August. 

During the day, delegates commemorated the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.