{"id":60143545,"date":"2026-07-23T18:41:05","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T17:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/?p=60143545"},"modified":"2026-07-23T18:41:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T17:41:15","slug":"as-plastic-talks-move-behind-closed-doors-observers-worry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/as-plastic-talks-move-behind-closed-doors-observers-worry\/","title":{"rendered":"As plastic talks move behind closed doors, observers worry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Conor McGlone is a London-based investigative journalist covering the environment, climate and sustainability. His reporting focuses on plastics, waste, pollution and environmental governance, with work published by The Guardian, DeSmog, The Independent and ENDS Report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benard Ogembo is a freelance investigative journalist and trained media professional based in Kenya. He has been reporting on plastic pollution and solutions for years. Areas of expertise are plastic policy and governance, international treaties, textile waste, and corporate influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, attempts to achieve a global treaty on plastic pollution stalled, as 183 nations reached an impasse on whether to cut plastic production, and other issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As negotiations resume, representatives from some countries and civil society groups are concerned they will exclude voices calling for stronger action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They worry that an increasingly behind-closed-doors approach will provide more space for powerful oil- and plastic-producing states, such as Saudi Arabia and the US, to unduly influence the negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is based on more than 20 interviews conducted over two months by a team of four reporters who have followed the plastics treaty process for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where is the process?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Since it began in March 2022, attempts to build a treaty to reign in accelerating plastic production, under the auspices of the United Nations, have been plagued by access and participation issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Civil society groups, whose members have \u2018observer\u2019 status at the UN, have raised objections<\/a> over restricted access to venues and exclusion from key negotiation spaces, as well as a shift to more unofficial meetings happening in the margins of the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA succession of informal spaces has progressively dominated the negotiations, excluding observers from the room,\u201d says Ana Rocha, director of the global plastics program at GAIA, an NGO. NGOs have also spoken out about how wealthier, oil-rich nations that produce plastic from their fossil fuels are able to bring large delegations, and thus wield more influence than poorer nations often worse impacted by plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These tensions are part of a central conflict: between a majority of self-titled \u201cambitious countries\u201d that want to control plastic production, and a small group of oil-producing nations who oppose any such step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 183 countries involved in hashing out a workable treaty together form the International Negotiating Committee (INC). Attempts to find common ground eventually crumbled at what was meant to be the sixth and final INC meeting in August last year. That meeting was suspended with no agreement. Soon afterwards, the chair of the process since November 2023, Luis Vayas Valdivieso, resigned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new chair was appointed in early 2026. Julio Cordano of Chile has laid out a roadmap to agreement. That includes regular informal meetings to build momentum, help countries align, and prepare for the next round of formal negotiations, scheduled for <\/a>March 2027<\/a>. He has emphasised the need for inclusivity and transparency in these meetings. The contribution of observers is \u201ca crucial element for advancing towards a successful outcome\u201d, he writes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet participants say they\u2019re seeing something different in practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shadow meetings and language boycotts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The 18 months between the last failed round of negotiations and the talks planned for next year is unusually long. Previous meetings have taken place once or twice per year. It is considered standard to have informal meetings during these \u201cintersessional\u201d periods, some organised by the UN, others by individual countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But civil society organisations and some member states fear that their exclusion is being normalised at these intersessionals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example in March, an invite-only meeting led by Japan brought together 20 countries to discuss the treaty in Tokyo. The countries collectively represented 60%<\/a> of global oil production and 70% of global plastics production. As a rule, informal meetings should not involve any substantive negotiations, yet that can be difficult to verify behind closed doors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheikh Sylla is Senegal\u2019s delegate and a member of the INC Bureau, a group of regional representatives whose role is to approve meeting agendas and assist the chair. He says discussions in Tokyo could influence the direction of the wider treaty process because<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the chair and one member of the secretariat \u2013 which runs the INC process \u2013 were there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A second three-day informal meeting led by the UK and Senegal took place in Dakar in May, with largely the same group of attendees. As in Tokyo, it took place under the Chatham House rule, meaning speakers\u2019 identities could not be revealed, so it is not clear what positions individual countries put forward. But Sylla, who attended the meeting, says there was a move by some countries to reopen negotiations on the definition of \u201cthe full life cycle of plastic\u201d. That term, and need to address the issue, appeared in the 2022 resolution that launched the talks. <\/ins><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"White<\/div>
A white stork and seagulls on a pile of plastic-strewn waste in Turkey (Image: Ali \u00c7obano\u011flu \/ Alamy)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Some countries reject the idea that the eventual treaty should tackle oil extraction and plastics production at the start of the life cycle. Ambitious countries say the scope is clear in the resolution and that reopening discussion risks a treaty focused on waste management instead of the root cause, rising production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A UK government spokesperson insisted that \u201cno proposals were produced\u201d at this meeting and it does not replace any formal negotiations.

Yet despite these reassurances, NGOs are concerned<\/a> these informal meetings could create a shadowy parallel process. \u201cAs we saw from the recent Japan meeting, the voices of key regional blocs were notably absent, undermining a core tenet of multilateralism: equal representation,\u201d says GAIA\u2019s Rocha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exclusion concerns were only heightened by the most recent informal meeting, in Nairobi in July. The event drew together head delegates from each negotiating country, and observers were not invited to attend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some fear this absence is taking a toll on the process that could signal lowering ambition to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacob Kean-Hammerson, global plastics policy lead at Greenpeace USA, said a document outlining priorities for discussion, circulated by the chair before the Nairobi gathering, \u201cjust completely crossed out the notion of having any conversation on chemicals or production,\u201d despite these being core issues with majority support, he says. \u201cThere is no unanimous agreement to not include those things, or even simply have a discussion on their merits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When this concern was put to Cordano in a press conference in June, he insisted that \u201cno topics are excluded\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sylla argues that limiting participation makes it easier for governments to settle on a weak agreement down the line. \u201cIf you want to agree to a low-ambition [treaty], you need to kill the transparency [and] the inclusiveness,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delegates from several African countries have also boycotted recent informal head-of-delegation meetings due to a lack of French-language interpretation, Sylla adds. In the past, translation has been provided at plenary sessions but not routinely in other sessions, say attendees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) rejected a proposal to provide interpretation at upcoming informal meetings on budgetary grounds. \u201cThis approach is consistent with established UN practices for intergovernmental negotiations,\u201d it stated. Sylla says this could exclude around 20 French-speaking countries from meaningful participation in these meetings. Any interpretation has to be provided centrally by the UN so they cannot hire their own interpreters, he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many Global South countries rely on aid from wealthier countries to participate at the talks but this resource is also under threat. Norway, for example, has recently scaled back<\/a> its aid for work on sustainable oceans and marine litter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karoline Andaur, WWF-Norway secretary general, said: \u201cThe programme is essential for ensuring civil society meaningful participation in key national and global decision-making processes. Norway\u2019s support allows waste pickers<\/ins>, affected communities, scientists, and the Global South actors to participate in plastic pollution treaty negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCutting this funding would weaken participation and transparency thereby creating a democratic deficit in the talks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kenya will be severely affected by Norway\u2019s cut, according to WWF. WWF Kenya\u2019s CEO, Jackson Kiplagat, says the cut \u201csends the wrong signal when we need greater commitment, not less\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Norway has long been a key financier of participation by delegates from African and other developing countries in UN-led environmental negotiations, including the plastics treaty talks, says Ayub Macharia, who is on Kenya\u2019s delegation at the talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ayub feels funding cuts could limit the number of delegates some countries are able to send to future negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is significant since INC discussions often take place simultaneously in separate negotiating tracks, requiring multiple representatives to effectively monitor and engage in the process.\u201d Lower financial support may limit resource-constrained countries from shaping the treaty’s outcome, he explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Token inclusion for civil society?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

NGOs, Indigenous peoples groups and other civil society organisations have previously met with delegates at formal negotiations to provide research, guidance and testimony to dozens of member states that actively seek their advice. But UN-organised informals are not usually open to observers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means that for the long months ahead, civil society may only be involved in the process via informal webinars with the chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still very, very unclear how and if civil society can participate,\u201dsaysFrankie Orona, a longtime observer of the process and executive director of Society of Native Nations, an environmental and Indigenous cultures nonprofit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concerns have been stoked by suggestions from the chair during a webinar with observers that the 700-plusorganisations which make up the civil society bloc should \u201cself-organise\u201d and elect specific \u201cfocal\u201d contacts. These would represent multiple groups at once, as a possible way to be allowed to engage in the informal meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the potential benefits of gaining access to the informal meetings, Orona is wary about the long-term effect of reducing organisations\u2019 ability to engage directly with the secretariat and reducing diverse voices to a single spokesperson. \u201cWe have to be very cautious about what we, as civil society, agree on. Because we could be setting a precedent of how [formal] negotiations are handled moving forward, and we can\u2019t allow for that low of an ambition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Observer inclusion is also critical to a just and balanced process, argues Alexandra Harrington, an international jurist and chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature\u2019s Plastic Pollution Task Force. \u201cMany of us involved in the process actually provide vital legal and scientific support for developing countries.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe big countries have huge delegations and well-trained international legal teams, which the smaller countries don’t have access to,\u201d she says. \u201cIf you take that away or if you limit the access, then you\u2019re limiting the ability of countries to actually have legal advice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Academics have also shared their concerns. The shift to observer-free informal sessions might have to do with \u201cgrowing political sensitivity as countries grapple with issues that are likely to shape the final agreement\u201d, says Steve Fletcher, director of the Revolution Plastics Institute at the University of Portsmouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cConcern arises when substantial phases of negotiations, or negotiations on key issues, take place without public scrutiny,\u201d he says. If closed-door discussions become the norm, there is a risk that the final agreement reflects political compromise more than the needs of those most affected by plastic pollution, Fletcher adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his response to Dialogue Earth, the chair of the INC process, Julio Cordano, says his suggestion to observers to self-organise \u201cwas not intended to reduce direct engagement\u201d. In fact, it may help expedite \u201caccess and interaction\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy objective is to strengthen, not narrow, observer engagement while respecting the member-led nature of the negotiations,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shellan Saling, interim chair of the Youth Plastic Action Network, says observers, including youth participants, do not have the access to the negotiations that they need. But Saling says it is the wider process and not the chair that is the problem. \u201cI have seen significant improvement in transparency and inclusivity compared to the previous chairs,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saling points to Cordano\u2019s regular meetings with observers and publication of letters and meeting notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNEP, whose secretariat supports the plastics treaty negotiations, says it is \u201cfully committed to a transparent and inclusive INC process\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A spokesperson added: \u201cThe secretariat supports transparency by sharing and publishing relevant information on the INC website, supporting observer webinars and related engagement opportunities, and clarifying and applying applicable UN secretariat rules and arrangements as mandated, including on interpretation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As countries work to revive the treaty process, the challenge will be in balancing efficiency with inclusivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harrington warns that if all countries are not properly involved, \u201cgetting legal and scientific advice that they need from civil society organisations when they can\u2019t afford it… you build a treaty that is inequitable and, when you put it in place, it doesn\u2019t have the intended effect.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Previously deadlocked talks to curb plastic pollution are restarting. Some who want a strong agreement say they are being excluded<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3707,"featured_media":60143561,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50039901,760],"tags":[569,578],"hashtags":[],"country":[50003615],"class_list":["post-60143545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ocean","category-pollution","tag-negotiations","tag-plastics","country-world-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAs plastic talks move behind closed doors, observers worry | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Previously deadlocked talks to curb plastic pollution are restarting. 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