Policy Updates

On August 14, 2025, the resumed 5^th session of the INC-5.2]{title="Fifth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee"} in Geneva, Switzerland, concluded without reaching a consensus on a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution, though UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen and UN Secretary-General António Guterres noted that all member states agreed to continue negotiations.

Negotiations to establish a legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution concluded without an agreement. UN officials, including UNEP Executive Director Andersen and UN Secretary-General Guterres, acknowledged the outcome but emphasized that all countries remained committed to the process. The talks, which included delegates from 183 nations and representatives from over 400 CSOs faced significant differences on key issues.

The US delegation supported an agreement that allows for tailored, country-specific solutions to reduce plastic pollution while opposing prescriptive, top-down regulations. INC Chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso and INC Executive Secretary Jyoti Mathur-Filipp reaffirmed their dedication to moving forward and achieving a future agreement.

On August 1, 2025, the French health ministry stated it could not legally intervene to stop the planned destruction of US$10 million in contraceptives held in Belgium, which were purchased by the USAID under former President Joe Biden and set to be destroyed by the administration of President Donald Trump, despite strong public outcry to intervene.

The US decision sparked criticism in France, with rights groups and left-wing politicians urging their government to halt the plan. France's health ministry, however, stated it had no legal basis to seize the products, as the products are not drugs of major therapeutic interest and no supply shortage exists in France. Multiple organizations, including MSI Reproductive Choices, offered to purchase the contraceptives at no cost to the US government, but their offers were rejected.

The contraceptives, mostly long-acting products like IUDs and birth control implants, were intended for countries in SSA and stored in Geel, Belgium. A US State Department spokesperson stated the decision to incinerate the unexpired products was based on the Mexico City Policy. The policy, reinstated in early 2025 by the Trump administration, prohibits providing assistance to NGOs that perform or promote abortions, though none of the products held in Belgium align with that description. The destruction was estimated by the US State Department to cost US$167,000.

On July 30, 2025, the UNDP and the French Senate launched a new partnership by signing a MoU in Geneva to strengthen democratic governance and parliamentary institutions worldwide.

The partnership will support parliaments by strengthening lawmaking, executive oversight, and inclusive citizen participation. The cooperation will also offer capacity-building, peer learning, and tailored support for parliaments in political transition or decentralization, as well as assistance for thematic needs such as climate action and digital capacities. The initiative builds on a 2005 cooperation framework and leverages the UNDP's experience supporting 65 parliaments.

Vice-President of the French Senate Loïc Hervé emphasized that the collaboration will promote good governance by strengthening parliamentary capacities. UNDP Assistant Administrator Susan Brown stated that strengthening parliamentary capacity is essential to build trust in institutions and that the partnership will increase the support her organization can offer to parliaments. The signing was held at the French Permanent Mission in the presence of Ambassador Céline Jurgensen.

On July 23, 2025, France's AFD and partners launched the EUR 11 million (US$13 million) second phase of the SAQIRH project, which will continue to support 19 primary healthcare centers across Lebanon amid the country's ongoing crises.

The project, funded by France through the AFD and implemented by PUI, AMEL, builds on the first phase of the program. Since 2020, the SAQIRH program has delivered over one million primary healthcare services to Lebanese and refugee communities.

The second phase will continue to provide consultations, medications, and diagnostic services while also strengthening the health system. Key objectives include to:

• Strengthen accreditation processes for PHCCs;
• Expand training opportunities for healthcare professionals;
• Improve supply chain management; and
• Integrate mental health and psychosocial support services into primary care.

On July 23, 2025, French Prime Minister François Bayrou presented the main elements of France’s 2026 Draft Budget, which aims to secure EUR44 billion (US$51.5 billion) in savings to reduce the national deficit from cuts, confirming the postponement of France's commitment to allocate 0.7% of its GNI to ODA by 2030.

The ODA budget line will be cut by EUR700 million (US$820 million), or 16%, in 2026, the third-largest reduction in the budget. This follows a cut of nearly EUR2.3 billion (US$2.7 billion) between 2024 and 2025. Focus 2030 projects these cuts will lower France's total ODA to EUR12 billion (US$14 billion), or 0.38% of GNI in 2026, its lowest level since 2016. The cuts come as the government plans to increase defense spending by EUR6.7 billion (US$7.8 billion).

The reductions have drawn criticism from numerous NGOs, including Oxfam and ONE France, which condemned the move as disproportionately affecting the world's most vulnerable populations. The government also abolished the Solidarity Fund for Development, which had directed revenue from financial transaction and airline ticket taxes to multilateral health and climate funds.

On June 17, 2025, the French Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs published the second Strategic Investment Plan for Development for 2024–2027, defining priorities relating to French technical assistance actions in the areas of taxation and public financial management, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

The plan's budget exceeds EUR60million (US$69 million) and aligns with the Presidential Council for International Partnerships, Interministerial Committees for International Cooperation and Development, a number of European and multilateral initiatives, and the EU Global Gateway program.

The plan's objectives were outlined as the aim to broaden the tax base by strengthening tax citizenship, integrating the informal economy, and innovating in digital and land taxation as well as modernize tax and customs administrations through digitalization, skills development, and combating illicit financial flows.

The plan funds bilateral projects via AFD and Expertise France as well as multilateral actions with IMF, WB, and OECD, with cross-cutting goals focusing on gender equality, green transition, and inclusive governance in vulnerable countries.

From June 16 to 18, 2025, AFD Group CEO Rémy Rioux visited Ukraine and Moldova, signalling AFD's strengthened commitment to Ukraine’s reconstruction and European integration ahead of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome on July 10 and 11, 2025.

Rioux highlighted that in Odessa, AFD supports the REHAB 1 program, implemented by EF, to improve mental health and rehabilitation services for civilians and veterans. In Kyiv, Rioux and French officials met Ukrainian ministers and advisers to prioritize financing for reconstruction, decentralization, and European convergence.

In Lviv, Rioux signed AFD’s first Ukrainian grant, totaling EUR5million (US$6 million), with the mayor for urban mobility, improving access to the Unbroken rehabilitation center for over 150,000 displaced people. This project, supported by GIZ, the European Commission, and EBRD, paves the way for future direct loans to Lviv.

In Moldova, Rioux met Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean, Deputy Prime Minister Cristina Gherasimov, and Energy Minister Dorin Junghietu to confirm AFD as a leading bilateral partner and a key implementer in the European Growth Plan, which totals EUR1.9billion (US$2.2 billion) over 2025–2027. The INSPIREE program, AFD's first investment in Moldova and co-financed with the KfW, is planned to boost energy security by renovating public buildings.

From June 9-13, 2025, the 3^rd UN Ocean Conference was hosted in Nice, France, ending with over 170 countries adopting a joint declaration committing to urgent measures for ocean conservation and sustainable use.

The event featured 55 heads of state and government as well as upwards of 15,000 participants from civil society, business, and science. The Nice Ocean Action Plan, combining this declaration with voluntary pledges, was said to mark renewed global political will for marine protection.

Key commitments included:

• A European Commission pledge of EUR1 billion (US$1.1 billion) for ocean conservation;
• A pledge by French Polynesia to create the world’s largest marine protected area;
• A pledge by New Zealand of US$52 million for Pacific Ocean governance;
• A pledge by Italy of EUR6.5 million (US$7 million) to strengthen Coast Guard surveillance in marine protected areas and on oil platforms;
• A pledge by Spain to establish five new marine protected areas, aiming to safeguard 25% of its marine territory;
• A pledge by Germany of EUR100 million (US$115 million) for Baltic and North Sea munitions clearance;
• The launch of a Coral Bond for reef conservation by Indonesia, WB, and partners.

37 countries, led by Panama and Canada, launched the High Ambition Coalition for a Quiet Ocean, while Canada pledged US$9 million to the Ocean Risk and Resilience Alliance. UN agencies and global partners also launched a co-design process for One Ocean Finance to unlock billions in new financing from ocean-dependent industries and blue economy sectors.

Nineteen more states ratified the Marine Biodiversity Treaty, bringing total signatures to 136 and ratifications to 50 states, plus the EU. Ten more ratifications are needed for the Agreement to enter into force. The 4^th UN Ocean Conference, in 2028, will be co-hosted by Chile and the Republic of Korea.

On June 2, 2025, AFD signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Essam and Dalal Obaid Foundation, Louis Dreyfus Foundation, and Sawiris Foundation to pilot a climate-smart agriculture program benefiting smallholder farmers in Egypt’s Sohag and Minya governorates.

This collaboration aims to improve agricultural productivity and resilience through tailored financial tools, sustainable practices, and market access support. AFD will also contribute through technical assistance and impact evaluation, with a long-term goal of scaling the approach nationally.

On January 28, 2025, French President Emmanuel Macron committed EUR1 billion (US$1.1 billion) to Mission 300, an initiative that seeks to connect an additional 300 million people from sub-Saharan Africa to electricity by 2030 launched by the World Bank and the AfDB.

This commitment complements the EUR100 million (US$1.1 billion) allocation commitment made in May 2024, to support a transition to sustainable cooking methods by 2030.