Towards an international treaty on plastic pollution

Plastic pollution is a significant global, transboundary problem. Every year 19-23 million tonnes of plastic waste leaks into aquatic ecosystems alone, harming marine life and ecosystems.  

The situation is getting worse. Global plastic production is expected to triple by 2060 (from 2019 levels), with less than half ending up in landfill and only one-fifth being recycled. 

Due to the rapidly increasing levels of plastic pollution, and its environmental, social, economic, and human health impacts, a multilateral solution is urgently needed.  

In March 2022, UN member states establishing an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC), which would meet five times with the aim of agreeing the treaty by the end of 2024.   

There have been four INC meetings to date. See more detail about previous and upcoming INC meetings.

Areas under negotiation include measures to:

• reduce plastic production
• address harmful chemicals and polymers used in plastics, and problematic or avoidable plastic products
• improve plastic product design
• increase producer and polluter responsibility
• address emissions and releases of plastics throughout their lifecycle
• improve waste management of plastics
• address trade of harmful plastics
• address existing plastic pollution
• improve transparency, tracking, monitoring and labelling of plastics.

Countries are also considering measures needed to implement the treaty effectively including:

• National Action Plans
• stakeholder engagement
• financial, capacity building and technical assistance.

The overall scope, level of ambition, and nature of commitments of a treaty all remain subject to negotiations.

The Ministry for the Environment and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade are jointly responsible for engaging in the negotiations, and are working with stakeholders, partners and other countries.

Taking action on plastic waste is an important step in Aotearoa New Zealand’s journey to a low-waste economy with an effective resource recovery and recycling system.

Aotearoa New Zealand supports the development of an effective interntional treaty to reduce plastic waste and eliminate plastic pollution on a global scale.

In negotiations, Aotearoa New Zealand is advocating for a Treaty to take a full lifecycle approach to plastic, addressing issues from the extraction of raw materials through to disposal and pollution impacts on ecosystems. This is consistent with our National Plastics Action Plan. 

Negotiating mandate

Read the updated Cabinet mandate on Aotearoa New Zealand's negotiating mandate agreed by Cabinet on 15 April 2024.

Previous negotiating mandate

Read the original Cabinet mandate which was agreed to by the previous Government in 2022.  This is superseded by the updated mandate.

In November 2022, Aotearoa New Zealand joined the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution.

Members of the High Ambition Coalition share a common vision to end plastic pollution by 2040. It is co-chaired by Norway and Rwanda.

The High Ambition Coalition coordinates statements from its member states to share priorities for upcoming INC meetings.

See the joint statements for INC1 [High Ambition Coalition]

See the joint statements for INC2 [High Ambition Coalition]

See the joint statements for INC3 [High Ambition Coalition]

See the joint statements for INC4 [High Ambition Coalition]

INC-1

The first Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee meeting (INC-1) took place from November 28 to December 2, 2022, in Punta del Este, Uruguay. 

At INC-1, countries agreed that the INC secretariat would develop a document for negotiation at the second INC that sets out potential options for elements towards an international legally binding instrument including both legally binding and voluntary measures.

See more information about INC1 (including recordings and a summary) on the UN Environment Programme website.  

See New Zealand’s statements and interventions from the first International Negotiating Committee meeting [PDF, 56.9 KB]

INC-2

The second INC (INC-2) took place May 29 to June 2, 2023, in Paris, France. Countries discussed substantive elements of a future treaty including obligations and measures across the plastics supply chain. Countries also discussed the role of implementation measures including National Action Plans, stakeholder engagement and financial assistance.

Countries also agreed that the Chair would develop a zero draft treaty text for negotiation at the third INC. See more information about INC-2 (including recordings, pre-session documents and submissions) on the UN Environment Programme website

• This co-facilitators report summarises discussion on the substantive obligations of an agreement including the core obligations and measures
• This co-facilitators report summarises discussion on the means of implementation including national action plans and financial assistance
• See New Zealand’s statement on agenda item four made in plenary at INC-2

See the potential options for elements of a treaty paper which was prepared by the INC secretariat. This was the basis of negotiations at INC-2. It draws on views expressed by member states from INC-1 and their submissions.

See New Zealand’s submission on potential options for elements towards an international legally binding agreement[PDF, 272 KB], for consideration at the second negotiation meeting.  

INC-3

The third INC meeting (INC-3) took place from 11 to 19 November 2023, in Nairobi, Kenya. Countries discussed the zero draft treaty text, and agreed that the INC secretariat would prepare a revised zero draft treaty text based on submissions by countries throughout INC-3.

See the zero draft treaty text [UN Environment Programme]

INC-4

The fourth INC (INC-4) took place from 23 to 29 April 2024 in Ottawa, Canada. Countries worked on streamlining the revised zero draft text and agreed to use a compilation document of the draft text to form the basis of negotiations at the fifth INC meeting.

Countries agreed to intersessional work to accelerate progress on key issues, ahead of the fifth INC meeting. The intersessional work will be undertaken by two expert groups on:

• Potential sources, and means that could be mobilized, for implementation of the objectives of the treaty; and
• Plastic products and chemicals of concern in plastic products, and product design focusing on recyclability and reusability of plastic products.

Countries also areed to establishing a Legal Drafting Group, which will begin its work at the fifth INC meeting.

See more information about INC-4 (including video recordings and a summary) [UN environment Programme].

INC-5

The fifth INC meeting (INC-5) will take place from 25 November to 1 December 2024 in Busan, Republic of Korea.

We will continue to undertake targeted engagement throughout the negotiations process, including with a wide range of stakeholders and iwi Māori partners.

If you have any questions or would like to provide feedback during this process, please get in touch with us at UNPlasticsTreaty@mfe.govt.nz