Global plastics treaty negotiators gather to choose new chair

By Yeter Ada Seko

ISTANBUL (AA) - Negotiators working toward a global plastics treaty are meeting to select a new chair to replace the outgoing president, as experts warn that consensus-based decision-making could continue to impede progress.

The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, created to draft a global agreement on plastics, is convening under the INC-5.3 session in Geneva to choose new leadership and discuss next steps following the resignation of its chair.

Efforts to reach a global plastics agreement have been on the agenda of governments and international organizations for years amid growing concern over the environmental and health impacts of plastic use.

Operating under the UN Environment Programme, the committee has held five main rounds of talks since 2022. The second part of its fifth session, INC-5.2, took place in Geneva in August last year, but negotiations over the draft text failed to produce a final outcome, drawing criticism that the process had stalled.

Following that impasse, the chair of the negotiations, Ecuador’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Luis Vayas Valdivieso, resigned, citing personal and professional reasons.

Delegates have now returned to Geneva to select a new chair and bureau and to conduct regional consultations aimed at reviving the negotiations.

Bjorn Beeler, executive director and international coordinator of the International Pollutants Elimination Network, said the former chair faced significant obstacles stemming from efforts to accommodate countries that oppose addressing the full life cycle of plastics and instead seek to limit discussions to waste management.

He said those countries, largely major oil and plastics producers, have insisted that decisions be taken only by consensus, effectively granting any single country veto power and paralyzing the talks.

Beeler said the resignation has created a leadership vacuum, with governments focusing on lobbying for the next chair rather than advancing substantive negotiations.

He said the next chair must be able to manage the process in a way that prevents a small group of states from blocking progress and encourages solution-oriented approaches. He added that countries from Africa and Latin America are well positioned to provide leadership, given their strong preparation and their need for a comprehensive global agreement.

Christina Dixon, ocean campaign leader at the Environmental Investigation Agency, said the resignation came at a critical moment, prompting countries to pause coordination activities until there is clarity on how the negotiations will be concluded, increasing uncertainty around the process.

Despite the challenges, Dixon said many countries remain committed to securing a strong and effective plastics treaty and that efforts by a limited number of states to obstruct progress can be overcome.

Maria Ivanova, director of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University and co-director of its Plastics Center, said there is broad agreement on the need to eliminate plastic pollution and secure financing, but key issues remain unresolved.

She said divisions persist over upstream measures such as controls on plastic production and whether commitments should be globally binding or primarily national. While significant, she added, these disagreements have not prevented the overall framework of an agreement from becoming clearer.

Ivanova said the central challenge now is completing a credible initial phase that can be strengthened over time. She noted that mounting scientific evidence on the serious health risks posed by plastics and related chemicals is increasingly shaping the talks, even as health-based demands continue to face resistance over concerns about time, cost, and feasibility.