Overview

• The fifth round of UN negotiations (INC-5.2) begins in Geneva next week with a near-final treaty draft still deadlocked over binding production caps, financing and enforcement mechanisms.
• The World Wildlife Fund has urged delegates to explore all pathways for a legally binding agreement that limits plastic production, mandates safer product design and bans harmful chemicals.
• More than 60 leading scientists published open letters outlining demands for legally enforceable caps on plastic output, global health safeguards, independent scientific oversight and inclusion of affected communities.
• Obstruction by a small group of low-ambition states and corporate lobbying has stalled progress and now threatens the treaty’s credibility and enforcement strength.
• With 30,000 tonnes of plastic entering oceans daily and mounting evidence of microplastics in human bodies, negotiators face intensifying urgency to deliver robust health and environmental protections.