28 November 2022, Punta del Este - The negative impacts of plastic pollution, particularly in the marine environment, is already wreaking havoc across countries who are members of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), including Pacific Island nations.
For example, the pollution that mostly originates thousands of miles from our Pacific shores, and carried across by atmospheric and oceanic currents, has toxified the marine food chains.
Studies have shown that microplastics have been found in the fish our people so heavily depend upon for nutrition and food security. Plastics have also choked and killed marine biodiversity, including coral reefs and mangroves, ecosystems that provide essential services such as fisheries and tourism.
These impacts were highlighted in a statement delivered by Antiqua and Barbuda on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States, during the high level plenary of negotiations for a new internationally legally binding agreement on plastic pollution in Punta del Este, Uruguay.
“We have no time to waste. We must negotiate this new instrument swiftly because the negative impacts of plastic pollution, particularly in the marine environment, are already being felt,” AOSIS urged the gathering of 190 countries.
“Small Island Developing States are disproportionately impacted by yet another transboundary environmental problem that we did not cause. Our identity, livelihoods and future are intrinsically tied to the ocean.”
Plastic pollution also reduces the ocean’s ability to absorb and sequester carbon dioxide, exacerbating the climate crisis where Pacific countries are at the forefront of its devastating impacts, the gathering at the Punta del Este Convention and Exhibition Centre was told.
“Plastic production and incineration is projected to emit 2.8 gigatons of carbon dioxide per year by 2050. All of this brings us even closer to the dangerous tipping point of 1.5°C, where life on small islands becomes not only very difficult, but in some cases impossible.”
According to AOSIS, the negotiations in Uruguay should lead to a treaty that deals effectively with the complexity of the plastic pollution crisis. For this to be achieved, AOSIS believes INC1 should comprehensively consider the objectives and scope of the instrument, in order that it is urgent, effective, equitable and address the full lifecycle and health impacts of plastics.
Secondly, the negotiations must define the key terms and concepts, recognising that this will be work that will continue at later INCs.
Thirdly, AOSIS called for a clear roadmap for the work ahead, including the potential structure of the treaty, programme of work including intersessional work and potential working groups.
“We must be evolutionary in our structure for this agreement. Our old models of international agreements are likely not up to the task of solving this crisis. We must learn from what has not worked in the past,” the group’s statement said.
Earlier this year, the United Nations approved a landmark agreement to create the world’s first global plastics pollution treaty. Adopted upon the conclusion of the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA 5.2) held in Nairobi, Kenya, the resolution mandates global leaders and other stakeholders to convene the First Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-1), which has brought more than 2500 delegates to Uruguay this week.
The Pacific Islands are represented by Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu at the meeting.
“A failure to urgently conclude an ambitious, effective, and equitable instrument will continue the devastating and irreversible negatives impacts on the SIDS Ecosystems and food chains will continue to be destroyed, thus compromising livelihoods and human health. The stakes are higher than they have ever been before, and urgent global action is required immediately before it is too late,” AOSIS argued.
“The objectives of this agreement need to be designed to allow for equity, effectiveness, flexibility, and progression. It must reduce and control the leakage of waste plastic and microplastics into our environment through interventions across the plastics lifecycle. As well, recognizing that there are decades of plastic that are already in our environment, it must prioritize urgently eliminating existing plastic pollution especially in the marine environment.”
The first Intergovernmental negotiating committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment is taking place in Punta del Este, Uruguay from 28 November–2 December 2022.
The Pacific Islands are represented by Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu through the support of the Government of Australia and the United Nations. The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme and the Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner are also attending.