Plastic Pollution Negotiations Must Make Significant Progress

On Tuesday, Inger Andersen, the director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), said that a new round of negotiations for a legally binding international treaty to eliminate plastic pollution must make meaningful progress.

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The fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4) is being held in the capital city of Ottawa from April 23 to April 29 to advance the development of the global agreement on plastic pollution by the end of 2024.

"We have seen progress in the first three rounds of negotiations, which have put the text on the table for further crafting," said Andersen, in an opening speech, "INC-4 must now make meaningful progress on this text and agree on a mandate for intersessional work in the months that follow."

Andersen urged negotiators to show commitment, collaboration and ambition in the coming week to advance the text and deliver a deal to beat plastic pollution once and for all.

"If we achieve these things we can finish this process at INC-5 in Busan this year with an instrument that sets the stage to end plastic pollution, thus protecting human and ecosystem health while ensuring a just transition and space for the private sector to thrive in new sustainable markets," she said.

Negotiation sessions started on April 23, where countries would continue to work through the possible scope, wording, and mechanisms, including financial tools, to include in the new legally binding treaty on plastic pollution.

Under a business-as-usual scenario and in the absence of necessary interventions, the amount of plastic waste entering aquatic ecosystems could nearly triple from some 9-14 million tonnes per year in 2016 to a projected 23-37 million tons per year by 2040.

In 2022, UN member states agreed at the resumed fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly to establish the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee.

The fifth and final planned INC session (INC-5) will take place from Nov. 25 to Dec. 1, 2024, in Busan, Republic of Korea.