What to Expect at Plastics INC-5

The document details the progress of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) toward a global plastics treaty, highlighting the divide between 'upstream' production controls and 'downstream' waste management. It discusses a 'non-paper' proposed by the chair to resolve 1,500 brackets of disagreed-upon text from INC-4, while noting that critical issues like plastic production, trade, and financial mechanisms remain unresolved.

• Negotiations are split between 'upstream' measures, which target the production, manufacture, and design of plastics and chemicals of concern, and 'downstream' measures, which focus on waste management, legacy plastic, and extended producer responsibility.
• Following INC-4 in Ottawa, which left 1,500 brackets of unnegotiated text, the INC chair, Luis Vayas, introduced a 'non-paper' to identify areas of convergence and elements requiring further discussion. However, this non-paper excludes text regarding trade and plastic production, both of which are considered essential for a high-ambition treaty.
• There is a significant dispute over the financial mechanism for treaty implementation: developing countries seek a new, independent fund financed by developed nations, while many developed countries prefer utilizing the existing Global Environment Facility (GEF).
• The document identifies a hierarchy of ambition for the treaty: the highest level would tackle production levels, followed by controlling specific products and chemicals of concern, and finally addressing the design of plastic products.

APA

Kantai, T. (2024). What to Expect at Plastics INC-5. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/articles/explainer/what-expect-plastics-inc-5

Chicago

Kantai, Tallash. What to Expect at Plastics INC-5. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2024. https://www.iisd.org/articles/explainer/what-expect-plastics-inc-5.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kantai |first1=Tallash |title=What to Expect at Plastics INC-5 |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=18 November 2024 |url=https://www.iisd.org/articles/explainer/what-expect-plastics-inc-5 |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kantai2024what, author = {Kantai, Tallash}, title = {{What to Expect at Plastics INC-5}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2024}, month = nov, url = {https://www.iisd.org/articles/explainer/what-expect-plastics-inc-5}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }