“We must ask-what do we really want to leave for our children, our next generation? Because plastic pollution is an intergenerational issue.”

This was a statement made by National Environment Service director Halatoa Fua, who recently attended a roundtable of about 20 country delegates from different regions of the world to strategise on the necessary approaches to reach an agreement for the plastics treaty in August 2025.

The meeting was held in Morges, Switzerland, organised by the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), and in collaboration with the Norwegian Academy of International Law (NAIL).

Fua stated ‘this roundtable was a prime opportunity for delegates to reconnect and strategise on critical elements required for an effective treaty. For the Cook Islands, it is important that sustainable production and chemicals of concern are included in the treaty text, given the unsustainable transboundary plastic waste that is filling all island shores in the Pacific, entangling marine species and threatening food security.’

The fifth and final session to finalise the text for a global binding agreement to end plastic pollution was not finalised in Busan, Republic of Korea, in November 2025. Delegates from over 160 countries will resume this fifth session in Geneva, Switzerland, from 5th to 14th August 2025. The point of contention stems from two varying interpretation of the treaty’s scope from the United Nations Environment Assembly.

Ambitious countries see the scope as a full-lifecycle approach, that should include an article on sustainable production and obligations on chemicals of concern in plastics that is not addressed in the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm (BRS) Convention. Low-ambition countries see the scope to be only focused on waste management, hence not addressing the unsustainable growth of plastic production and consumption that is polluting the marine environment, fragile ecosystems and increasing emissions.

The roundtable in Morges gave this small group of countries that stand up for ambition, to regroup on ensuring essential outcomes are reached in the resumed fifth session. The group discussed the essential outcomes and strategies to consider if consensus is not met in such divided negotiations. This led to extensive discussions on procedural clarity and understanding the various rules of procedure and practices under the United Nations.

The discussions were heavily focused on the contentious articles including sustainable production, chemicals of concern and the financial mechanism. These are the articles of most divergence amongst member states, due to the disagreement on whether the scope should be on waste management only or the full lifecycle of plastics to include production.

The delegates also discussed the political support required as Ministers are invited to the resumed session in Geneva. NES