Delegation heads negotiating a global treaty on plastic pollution concluded four days of informal talks in Bangkok on Wednesday, seeking to bridge differences over the scope and ambition of the proposed agreement.
The second informal in-person meeting of heads of delegation to the UN-led Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) ran from Sunday through Wednesday at the UN Conference Centre in the Thai capital, according to the local media.
The talks sought to deepen understanding among members, identify areas of common ground and provide direction for the next version of INC chair Julio Cordano's "Aid to Negotiations" ahead of formal negotiations in March 2027.
Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS), representing 14 countries, called for an ambitious and implementable treaty covering the full lifecycle of plastics.
Fiji, on behalf of the group, said stronger provisions were needed on sustainable production and consumption, human health, problematic plastic products and chemicals, as well as financing, capacity building and technology transfer.
Greenpeace Thailand separately urged delegates to address plastic production as a root cause of pollution and called for greater transparency, noting that civil society observers and media were excluded from the Bangkok talks.
Operating under the UN Environment Programme, the INC has held five main rounds of negotiations since 2022 as it seeks to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution.
Negotiations during part of its fifth session in Geneva in August 2025 failed to produce an agreement on a final treaty text, leaving countries divided over issues including plastic production, chemicals, financing and implementation.
