Negotiations on a Global Treaty on plastic pollution - Opening the way for a new international legal framework

According to AFP, the informal round of exchanges held in Japan in early March 2026 was assessed by a source involved in the negotiations as “constructive”, and could even open a pathway towards an agreement. After this meeting, negotiators are expected to continue meeting in Dakar in May.

The above development is particularly significant in the context that the negotiation process has repeatedly encountered deadlocks in recent times. Previously, the round of negotiations expected to be the “finalization” at Busan (Republic of Korea) in 2024 failed to achieve results, while efforts to resume the process in Geneva in August 2025 also ended without consensus. Reuters reported that the negotiations in Geneva had to extend into the final hours but were still unable to resolve differences; AP also noted that the conference concluded without an immediate plan to resume, although all parties acknowledged that the process could not come to a halt.

The biggest bottleneck remains the scope of regulation of the future treaty. A large group of countries advocates an approach covering the entire life cycle of plastics, including strong measures such as limiting the production of virgin plastics and controlling hazardous chemicals in plastic products. In contrast, a smaller group consisting of oil-producing countries seeks to narrow the focus to waste management, collection, recycling, and “circular” solutions, rather than establishing caps or reduction obligations on production. AP reported that in Geneva, about 100 countries supported limiting production, while the United States, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait opposed reducing production or banning chemical additives in the treaty.

Nevertheless, a notable signal is that the consultations in Japan this time brought together parties representing various positions, ranging from major oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United States to vulnerable island states such as Antigua and Barbuda and Palau, along with China, India and the European Union. The fact that the parties continue to sit together, rather than leaving the negotiating table, indicates that room for negotiation still remains. This also provides a basis for observers to cautiously expect that the treaty-making process will be restored in a more substantive direction in the coming months.

From an institutional perspective, an important step was established in February 2026 when the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee elected Ambassador Julio Cordano of Chile as its new Chair, with a commitment to push the process “towards the finish line”. UNEP stated that this resumed session focused only on organizational matters and the election of personnel, and had not yet entered into substantive negotiations. However, in a letter sent to member states on 19 February, the new Chair emphasized three key principles for the upcoming phase - inclusiveness, transparency and predictability - and indicated that a work roadmap would be announced in the following weeks to narrow differences and soon resume substantive dialogue.

The urgency of the treaty cannot be denied. According to AFP, the world currently produces more than 400 million tons of plastic each year, about half of which consists of single-use products. Meanwhile, an assessment cited by the INC Chair in an official letter clearly states that plastic pollution could nearly triple by 2060 if the international community does not act under a shared vision. For this reason, the treaty being pursued is not merely an environmental document, but is also considered a global legal foundation to regulate stages from production, design and consumption to the management of plastic waste, including pollution in the marine environment.

From the perspective of law and public policy, the latest developments show that the trend toward building binding international norms on plastic pollution is still taking shape, despite very deep differences in interests among countries. For developing countries, including Vietnam, this is a signal that needs to be closely monitored in order to proactively prepare in terms of institutions, waste governance capacity, extended producer responsibility, mechanisms for chemical control, and a roadmap for transition to a circular economy model. In other words, although the treaty has not yet taken shape, the pressure to improve the national legal framework in line with international standards has become more evident.

It can be seen that the fact that recent negotiations are described as “constructive” does not mean that all disagreements have been resolved, but it is a positive political and legal signal after many months of stagnation. In the context that plastic pollution is increasingly becoming a transboundary challenge, maintaining dialogue, strengthening trust, and promoting a transparent and substantive negotiation roadmap are precisely the prerequisites for the international community to move closer to an effective, feasible and sufficiently binding global treaty in the future.

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