IPEN and the Plastics Treaty Process

IPEN has worked to expose the health and environmental threats from plastics, with a focus on toxic chemicals throughout the plastics life cycle, for at least two decades. During this time, IPEN members were leading civil society voices in the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) and other global fora, contributing to the development of global policies to protect human health and the environment from plastics and their associated chemicals.

In March 2022, at the 5th session of the United Nations Environment Assembly, IPEN participated in the negotiations that adopted a resolution calling for a Plastics Treaty: End plastic pollution: towards an international legally binding instrument (UNEA 5/14). The Treaty mandate recognizes that “the high and rapidly increasing levels of plastic pollution represent a serious environmental problem at a global scale, negatively impacting the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainable development” and calls for an International Negotiating Committee (INC) to develop and adopt a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full life cycle of plastics. The UNEA mandate launched the process towards a global Plastics Treaty, with a plan for five INC negotiations, concluding at the end of 2024.

Shortly after the UNEA 2022 resolution, IPEN released our Plastics Treaty Platform, calling for an ambitious agreement to control plastics production, harmful plastic chemicals, and other essential ingredients for a strong, health-protective agreement. IPEN members from dozens of countries, mostly low- and middle-income nations where their communities face the most serious threats from plastics, have contributed in-person and online to the Plastics Treaty process, with significant IPEN delegations serving as Observers at every INC.

For more on IPEN’s work on the Plastics Treaty process, see the links below.

INC-1: Uruguay, 28 November to 2 December, 2022

INC-2: France, 29 May to 2 June, 2023

INC-3:  Kenya, 13-19 November, 2023

INC-4: Canada, 23-30 April, 2024

Intersessional Session Quick Views

INC-5: Korea, 25 November to 1 December, 2024

INC-5.2: Switzerland, 5-14 August, 2025