Overview

• Delegates from 184 countries rejected two late-stage draft texts by negotiating chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso, ending the INC-5.2 session without a treaty.
• High Ambition Coalition members demanded binding caps on virgin plastic output and international controls on toxic additives, but the Like-Minded Group of oil- and petrochemical-producing states opposed upstream measures.
• The final drafts omitted explicit production limits and sidelined robust chemical regulations, with more than 100 bracketed provisions left unresolved.
• UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen confirmed that talks will continue in a future INC-5.3 session, although its timing and format remain undecided.
• Environmental NGOs condemned the outcome as an “abject failure,” warning that delaying upstream action jeopardizes efforts to curb microplastic contamination and protect human health.