Plastics Treaty Talks Could Reach Deal in March, Chair Says After Bangkok Round

The chair of the United Nations negotiations for a global plastics treaty says countries are closer to agreement than ever before — and he expects a deal could be adopted at the next formal negotiating session in March 2027. The statement came after a week of closed-door talks in Bangkok, where heads of delegation tried to narrow the gaps that sank previous rounds.

FAKTA

• What: Second informal in-person meeting of heads of delegation of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on plastic pollution
• When: 27–30 September 2026
• Where: UN Conference Centre, Bangkok
• Who: INC Chair Julio Cordano, Chilean ambassador and diplomat
• Next: Informal talks in January 2027, then the formal session INC-5.4 in March 2027
• Stakes: Global plastic production is expected to triple by 2060, according to AFP

Bangkok round narrows the gaps

Speaking in Bangkok after the informal talks, Cordano told Agence France-Presse that he was hopeful the long-delayed treaty could be adopted at INC-5.4, the next official round of negotiations.

“My plan and my expectation is that we will be able to adopt the treaty in INC 5.4 [in March 2027], if we follow the correct steps, if we make consistent progress, and if we complete the roadmap that I presented,” he said.

Cordano insisted that countries were not as far apart as they might seem. “I think you would be surprised to hear members on these topics. I think they are much closer than simply binary positions that are irreconcilable,” he said, according to the AFP report.

He pointed to a concept he called “different pathways or different departure points” — the idea that the treaty could offer different options within its framework, allowing more ambitious countries to introduce measures such as production limits or restrictions on certain products while others would not adopt them. Cordano said this concept was “embedded in our mandate” and called for pragmatism about reaching the treaty’s overall objective.

Delegates at the plastics treaty talks in Bangkok, where heads of delegation met behind closed doors from 27 to 30 September 2026. Illustration: Watan News

Deep divisions remain

Despite the optimism, significant disagreements persist — including over whether the treaty should cap plastics production, how it should reference human health, and how it should cover problematic plastic products and chemicals of concern.

A majority of nations has called for ambitious, legally binding measures covering the entire life cycle of plastics, including binding production caps and bans on problematic chemicals. A smaller group of mostly oil-producing states — including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Russia — has pushed back against such restrictions, arguing that the negotiations should focus more narrowly on waste management.

Countries also disagree on how decisions should be adopted and how the treaty could be amended in the future. Some want all decisions to be reached by consensus, while others argue that this could allow a small number of countries to block progress. Cordano said he remained committed to a treaty accepted by all countries, but acknowledged concerns that a strict consensus rule could freeze the treaty in the future.

Pacific islands press for an ambitious treaty

The Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS), speaking as a group through current chair Fiji, called in Bangkok for continued progress toward an ambitious, effective and implementable legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution.

“The full lifecycle approach must be protected and more clearly reflect sustainable production and consumption. Human health and the protection of vulnerable communities remains insufficiently reflected,” said Seinimili Nakora, Director of Environment for Fiji’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, delivering the group’s opening statement.

The Pacific also demanded stronger provisions on national action plans, reporting and effectiveness evaluation, clearer treatment of releases and leakages, the waste hierarchy, and recognition of the special circumstances of small island developing states and least developed countries.

The road to a global plastics treaty by March 2027

The treaty talks began in March 2022, when the resumed fifth session of the UN Environment Assembly adopted a historic resolution to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution. The original timetable gave negotiators two years — a deadline they have now overrun by more than a year.

Crunch talks in South Korea in 2024 fell apart, and a renewed effort in Geneva in August 2025 also ended without agreement. Cordano, a diplomat and director of environment, climate change and oceans at Chile’s foreign ministry, was elected chair in February 2026 at the administrative session INC-5.3 in Geneva, after his predecessor Luis Vayas Valdivieso resigned.

Before the Bangkok round, Cordano issued an “aid to negotiations” — a non-binding outline of a possible treaty that left the most contentious issues unresolved. He now plans to issue an updated version in November, ahead of another round of informal talks in January 2027. The UNEP INC Secretariat has asked delegates to save the period 25 January to 2 February 2027 for a third informal in-person meeting on the road to INC-5.4.

The Philippines’ environment undersecretary Analiza Rebuelta-Teh told a New York roundtable on 23 September that “we cannot solve the climate crisis without solving the plastic crisis,” calling a future treaty “the most critical environmental deal since the 2015 Paris Agreement,” according to the Business Mirror.

“Everybody sees that this is a problem that requires a solution,” Cordano said. “I think people are seeing eye-to-eye … I think this is a reason to be optimistic.”

Read more of our zero waste coverage: Türkiye’s 2053 plastic vision, built after the national zero waste workshop (watannews.dk). For the full AFP interview with the INC chair, see EcoPlastics in Packaging.