On March 2, 2022, UN Member States voted at the resumed fifth UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2) to establish an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) with the mandate of advancing a legally-binding international agreement on plastics.
[15] Members agreed that the treaty will be international in scope, legally binding, and should address the full life cycle of plastics, including its design, production, and disposal.
[4] It has been argued that chemicals contained in plastics such as additives, processing aids, and unintentionally added substances need to be addressed, too.
[16][17] In the lead-up to UNEA-5.2, the majority of UN Member States had expressed their support for advancing a global treaty.
[18] Other groups making public declarations about the need for a treaty include the business sector,[19] civil society, Indigenous Peoples,[20] workers, trade unions,[21] waste pickers[22] and scientists.