Environmental activists gather outside the venue of the 5th Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee in Busan, demanding “courage not compromise” during the final days of negotiations on plastic waste. (Courtesy of Greenpeace)

Negotiations at the fifth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC-5) in Busan, were seen making little progress with only two days left before the Dec. 1 deadline.

The INC-5, which was started after a resolution passed during the UN Environment Assembly meeting in March 2022, is the final round of negotiations before delegations are expected to finalize the legally binding treaty text.

The gathering started Monday and is scheduled to end on Sunday.

Challenging circumstances surrounded the treaty even before discussions at the INC-5 started.

As of 4 p.m., Friday, delegations have yet to yield an agreed text, as not a single agreed-upon clause has been submitted to the legal drafting group.

Countries that produce petrochemicals, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, continue to show opposition to targeting plastic production rates. However, countries such as small island nations and low- and middle-income countries that bear the strongest impacts of plastic production continue to voice protests.

Progress appeared especially slow on divisive issues such as plastic production caps on specific plastic products, banning specific chemicals that are of concern in plastic products and waste management and mechanisms to enable strengthening the treaty over time as of Thursday.

Regarding the slow progress in discussions, several delegates out of 177 participating countries expressed frustration about how slow the pace of the talks has gotten due to lingering disagreements.

A delegate from Colombia said during a plenary session that discussions have gone back to the “situation of prior meetings,” including in “areas where it should be simpler to find areas of convergence,” like plastic waste management.

Luis Vayas Valdiviesco, chair of the INC, also expressed his concerns to delegations on Wednesday, stating that the negotiations are “progressing far too slowly,” emphasizing the need to “significantly accelerate the pace.”

In an attempt to speed up the process, Valdiviesco held informal meetings Friday to try to tackle the most divisive issues. He also issued a non-paper, or a proposed agenda, on Friday afternoon to serve as a draft before a final treaty is released Saturday. This non-paper is based on discussions held by delegates so far, conducted around the chair’s previous non-paper, released in early November.

Luis Vayas Valdiviesco, chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, speaks during an open plenary session of the INC-5 on the UN plastics treaty held at Bexco, Busan, Wednesday. (Courtesy of WWF-Korea)

However, criticism has mounted among nongovernmental organizations like Greenpeace, which has pointed out that the new non-paper is a "weak attempt" to force delegations to "reach a conclusion and get a treaty for the treaty's sake."

"The only silver lining is including a process for achieving a global target to reduce plastic production, and this must be a redline for any country serious about ending plastic pollution," said Graham Forbes, Greenpeace's head of delegation to the Global Plastic Treaty negotiations. "Member states must reject a tokenistic agreement that puts an illusory band-aid on a global plastic and climate crisis."

Meanwhile, South Korea’s Ministry of Environment issued a compromise plan on Thursday to encourage an international treaty against plastics to be drafted by the end of the INC-5. The ministry’s proposal suggested maintaining the treaty’s legally binding nature while allowing specific policies to be implemented through voluntary measures tailored to each country.

Regarding slow discussions and compromise plans like Korea’s, observer organizations consisting of environmental activist groups gathered outside of the INC-5 venue on Friday, demanding negotiators come together “to show courage and not compromise” during the final days of negotiations.

“A weak treaty based on voluntary measures will break under the weight of the plastic crisis and lock us into an endless cycle of unnecessary harm,” stated Ko Kum-sook, founder of the zero waste store Almang Market. Ko spoke on behalf of the observer organizations during Friday’s press conference.

“In these final throes of negotiations, we need governments to show courage. They must not compromise (…) and hinge the life of our planet on unachievable consensus,” Ko continued.