Decisions about how a treaty is structured impacts the treaty’s initial text and what will need to be decided in future agreements, protocols, and annexes. Structure and Elements of International Legal Instruments: Key Considerations for the Future Plastics Treaty provides an analysis of different options for treaty design and the risks associated with each.
Heading into the fifth and final scheduled session of the intergovernmental negotiating committee to advance a plastics treaty (INC-5), negotiators have yet to settle on the future treaty’s structure. While many options have been presented, there is little agreement on what the future treaty should contain.
This issue brief examines the three principal types of treaties: substantive (or specific), framework, and hybrid conventions, providing lessons learned from previous multilateral environmental agreements such as the Montreal Protocol and the Basel Convention. It also outlines the potential risks and benefits of different approaches and provisions including:
- voluntary provisions;
- flexibility;
- treatment of the omission of key provisions in the initial treaty;
- voting on amendments and decisions;
- treaty and annex amendments;
- protocols; and
- the role of the Conference of the Parties (COP).
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(This brief was published on October 1, 2024)