August 8, 2025 | Friday
Four days into the final Global Plastics Treaty negotiations, we are not on track to deliver a treaty that will protect people and nature. Enough is enough; something must change. We are joining the voices of waste pickers, frontline communities, scientists, healthcare professionals, children and youth, women, businesses, and non-governmental organisations around the world, calling on governments to step up. Fix the process, keep your promise, and finalise a meaningful treaty to end plastic pollution.
After five rounds of negotiations over two years, and a repeat performance of obstruction from minority countries over the past four days, tensions are at a boiling point. The “stocktake” plenary is scheduled for Saturday August 9, 2025 where co-chairs will give an update on the progress–or lack thereof– in negotiations thus far. This is the opportunity for ambitious countries to finally break through the consensus deadlock and call for a vote.
See GAIA’s press release for details.
Ambitious Proposals Gaining Momentum
As we approach the mid-way point of negotiations, several ambitious Conference Room Papers (CRPs) have gained significant support amongst Member States.
One is the Swiss/Mexico Proposal on Article 3: Plastic Products that we discussed in our daily recap on August 6. At the time of writing, 130 countries are in support. The proposal calls for a global ban on the production & trade of a list of harmful plastic products, including those containing some chemicals of concern.
Another is the UK/Chile Proposal on Article 5: Product Design. To date 111 have signed on in support. This proposal recognizes the role of reuse in redesigning products. If we land a strong treaty that cuts plastic production, we will need to transition to toxic-free reuse practices and systems that are safe and sustainable.
A key CRP to watch is the proposal for a standalone article on health, with 128 countries in support. The science is clear: plastic poses a serious and growing threat to our health and the health of future generations. Plastic has been found in our food, water, blood, stool, brain, placentas, breastmilk, and digestive systems. A plastics treaty must recognize the urgency of this issue and address it aggressively and decisively.
Civil Society in Action
Today, the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Plastics held a press conference, where panelists shared how Indigenous communities are on the frontlines of the plastics crisis. Pangunnaaq Vi Waghiyi of Alaska Community Action on Toxics stated, “The Arctic has the most microplastics of all the oceans. Our elders call our ocean our farm. It has sustained my people for millenia…to learn that our main food, our waters and seals during our long winters are loaded with microplastics… These are burdens we didn’t create.”
Aakaluk Adrienne Blatchford of the Indigenous Environmental Network stated, “[With] colonization throughout the world we’re seeing that it’s harder and harder to maintain not only our food security but our identity as Indigenous People, because without the food and what the land provides, we can’t survive. There is no us.”
For more information:
Global Press Contact:
Regional Press Contacts:
About GAIA
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.
Follow us on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, and LinkedIn for live updates during INC-5, and our regional accounts:
GAIA Africa: Instagram, Facebook
GAIA LAC: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
GAIA Asia Pacific: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedInGAIA US Canada: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter
