FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 14 August 2025
Geneva, Switzerland– After waiting for hours for the plenary session that was to conclude the plastics treaty talks (INC-5.2), the Chair opened and closed plenary in a matter of seconds, stating only that the session would be resumed tomorrow.
Merrisa Naidoo, Plastics Program Manager at Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) Africa, states:
“If this does not make crystal clear that this treaty process is broken, what will? The Chair’s disrespect and disregard for civil society and many Member State delegations, who were forced to wait for hours just to be abruptly dismissed in a matter of seconds, is not just an insult– it is a strategy to exhaust ambitious Member States into submission. All day, the Chair met with a select and unnamed group of countries to hash out the way forward, while leaving civil society and the rest of the country delegations in the dark. This is not democracy. This is dysfunction. We hope that ambitious Member States will show the Chair and the petro-states trying to force a weak treaty down their throats that they will not give up and they will not give in. No treaty is better than a bad treaty.”
Ginebra, Suiza – Después de horas de espera para la sesión plenaria que debía concluir las negociaciones del tratado sobre plásticos (INC-5.2), el Presidente abrió y cerró la plenaria en cuestión de segundos, indicando únicamente que la sesión se reanudaría mañana.
Merrisa Naidoo, responsable del Programa de Plásticos de la Alianza Global para Alternativas a la Incineración (GAIA) África, declaró: “Si esto no deja absolutamente claro que este proceso de tratado está roto, ¿qué lo hará? La falta de respeto y la indiferencia del Presidente hacia la sociedad civil y hacia muchas delegaciones de Estados Miembros, que fueron obligadas a esperar durante horas solo para ser abruptamente despedidas en cuestión de segundos, no es solo un insulto: es una estrategia para agotar a los Estados Miembros ambiciosos hasta que cedan. Durante todo el día, el Presidente se reunió con un grupo selecto y no identificado de países para decidir cómo avanzar, mientras dejaba a la sociedad civil y al resto de las delegaciones nacionales completamente a oscuras. Esto no es democracia. Esto es mal funcionamiento. Esperamos que los Estados Miembros ambiciosos le demuestren al Presidente y a los petroestados que intentan imponerles un tratado débil que no se rendirán ni cederán. Ningún tratado es mejor que un mal tratado.”
Press contacts:
Global: Claire Arkin | Claire@no-burn.org | +1 (973) 444 4869
Regional:
Africa: Carissa Marnce | carissa@no-burn.org | +27 76 934 6156
Latin America: Camila Aguilera | Camila@no-burn.org | +56 9 8913 6198
Asia & the Pacific: Robi Kate Miranda | robi@no-burn.org I +63 927 585 4157
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GAIA is a worldwide alliance of more than 1,000 grassroots groups, non-governmental organizations, and individuals in over 90 countries. With our work we aim to catalyze a global shift towards environmental justice by strengthening grassroots social movements that advance solutions to waste and pollution. We envision a just, zero waste world built on respect for ecological limits and community rights, where people are free from the burden of toxic pollution, and resources are sustainably conserved, not burned or dumped.
