Busan, South Korea, 25 November 2024
Talks began in Busan, South Korea, on Monday aiming to clinch a legally binding deal on plastics pollution, led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The meeting follows two years of intergovernmental negotiations to develop a legally binding global instrument that covers land and the marine environment – a blink of an eye in diplomatic circles, where multilateral deals can be decades in the making.
“Our world is drowning in plastic pollution. Every year, we produce 460 million tonnes of plastic, much of which is quickly thrown away,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterresvia video message, as he urged delegates to push for a deal:
By 2050, there could be more plastic than fish in the ocean. Microplastics in our bloodstreams are creating health problems we’re only just beginning to understand.
Cautious optimism
Expressing hope for a potentially historic deal, UNEP Executive Director Inger Anderson insisted that it was “the moment of truth” to take action.
“Not a single person” on the planet wants plastic washing up on their shores or plastic particles circulating in their bodies, or their unborn babies, she maintained, adding that it was a sentiment shared by the G20 group of industrialized nations.
“Waste pickers, civil society groups are fully engaged; businesses are calling for global rules to guide this future; indigenous people are speaking out; scientists are calling out the science,” Ms. Anderson said.
“The finance sector is beginning to make the moves at the international level. There’s also been clear signals that a deal is essential, including the G20 declaration last week, which said that G20 leaders were determined to land this treaty by the end of the year.”
Broad support
More than 170 countries and over 600 observer organizations have registered for one week of talks in the large port city of Busan, where South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol urged delegates to agree on a path to zero plastic pollution, for the sake of future generations:
“The excessive reliance of humanity on the convenience of plastics has resulted in an exponential increase in plastic waste; the waste accumulated in our oceans and rivers now jeopardizes the lives of future generations,” he said, via video link.
“I sincerely hope that over the coming week all Member States will stand together in solidarity – with a sense of responsibility for future generations – to open a new historic chapter by finalizing a treaty on plastic pollution.”
Coming full circle
Officially, the talks are known as the fifth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee discussions (INC-5) to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. The session follows four previous rounds which began exactly 1,000 days ago in Uruguay.
By contrast, “some plastics can take up to 1,000 years to decompose”, UNEP chief Ms. Anderson said, and even then, “they break into ever smaller particles that persist, pervade and pollute…Damaging ecosystem resilience, blocking drainage in cities and also very likely harming human health and growth in plastic pollution is emitting more greenhouse gases, pushing us further into climate disaster. That is why public and political pressure for action has risen into a crescendo.”
In his message to the Busan meeting, the UN Secretary-General underscored the need for a treaty that is “ambitious, credible and just”.
Any deal must address the life cycle of plastics – “tackling single-use and short-lived plastics, waste management and measures to phase out plastic and promote alternative materials”, Mr. Guterres insisted.
These should enable all countries to access technologies and improve land and marine environments, while also ensuring that the most vulnerable communities who rely on plastic collection are not left behind, such as waste pickers.
Source – United Nations
Global plastics treaty: UN experts call for centrality of human rights
21 November 2024
Independent UN human rights experts said on Thursday that the forthcoming global plastic pollution treaty must ensure accountability at every stage of the plastic lifecycle, warning against shifting responsibilities to developing nations.
The urgency is clear: humanity produces over 460 million metric tonnes of plastic annually, with half designed for single use. “By 2050, there could be more plastic in the ocean than fish,” UN Secretary General António Guterres has cautioned, with pollution now found “everywhere – all around us and inside us – from our seas to our blood, to our brains”.
Speaking ahead of the final session of International Negotiating Committee on the accord, in Busan, South Korea, the experts emphasised that plastic-producing states and companies must take greater responsibility for addressing worldwide human rights impacts.
Transparency and prevention
The experts highlighted that the legally binding instrument must include explicit references to human rights and emphasised the importance of transparency, prevention and accountability principles.
The current direction of the negotiations…risks shifting responsibility from producing States to developing States that lack the capacity or resources to confront global plastic scourge, the experts warned.
They emphasised that every stage of the plastic cycle generates pollution threatening basic human rights – from production through disposal.
Transparency must underpin the entire process. “The public must have access to accurate and accessible information on the chemicals of concern used in plastic polymers and products, the type and amounts of pollutants emitted or released in each of the stages of the plastic lifecycle, and the volumes of plastics produced”, the Human Rights Council-appointed experts said.
The experts – who are not UN staff and receive no salary for their work – also stated the importance of prevention.
Prevention requires action on two fronts: controlling chemicals of concern in plastics and ensuring product design enables safe recycling. These measures are particularly crucial for developing countries lacking economies of scale and depending on imports. The experts noted this approach would “enable the transition to a chemically safe circular economy”.
Producers must pay
To support these efforts, the experts are calling for a mandatory global fund with producer contributions.
“Accountability means that plastic producers must make contributions to a global fund,” the experts emphasised.
This would operationalise the polluter-pays principle and support developing nations, particularly small island states, in implementing effective waste management systems and cleaning up existing pollution, including marine plastic gyres.
‘A just transition’
A human rights-based approach also demands access to remedies, especially for communities disproportionally impacted by plastic pollution. The experts have previously called for a just transition that protects vulnerable communities, including waste pickers who collect approximately 60 percent of recycled plastics globally.
“A just transition that leaves no one behind is critical to address the situation of many individuals and groups who derive an income from work on plastics,” the experts stressed.
Looking ahead
“The international community must come together to end plastic pollution,” the experts stated. Looking ahead, the experts call to confront the “negative externalities imposed by fossil fuels and petrochemical industries” while ensuring protection for vulnerable communities.
Their conclusion set a clear mandate: “A legitimate and just transition to ending plastic pollution necessitates placing human rights at the core of the legally binding instrument under negotiation”.
Source – United Nations