ASH joins the Stop Tobacco Pollution Alliance in attending the second session of the fifth Intergovernmental Negotiating Conference (INC-5.2) of the United Nations Treaty to End Plastic Pollution in Geneva, Switzerland from August 5 – 14, 2025. ASH’s Executive Director Laurent Huber will share updates and progress here for our community to stay engaged and informed.
Today, August 15, 2025 at 10:00 am Geneva time – ASH stands with the high ambition countries that refused to accept the fatally weak text offered by countries that benefit from plastic production.
No treaty is better than a weak treaty that depends on voluntary actions, falls short on what is needed to adequately address plastic harms and has no option for future improvement.
While a majority of countries wanted to see a meaningful treaty, a minority managed to stall the process through this entire round of negotiations.
The failure is also due to the UN Environmental Program culture and process that completely ignores conflicts of interest, which allowed extremely high interference from industry.
ASH and the Stop Tobacco Pollution Alliance (STPA) will continue to monitor and engage in the process to fight for health, the health of the environment and to ensure that one of the most littered plastic items in the world – cigarette butts – are addressed.
While these negotiations were a disappointment, ASH will maximize on another UN treaty, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which is meeting this November and will address tobacco product waste. We will continue to promote a ban on cigarette filters.
ASH’s Key Points for INC-5.2 are available to review in: English
