28 November 2024, Busan Korea - The progress of the work at the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) to develop an international legally binding instrument (ILBI) on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, is “too slow.”
INC Chair Ambassador Luis Vayas called this during a stock-taking plenary on Wednesday, where delegates, including Pacific island officials, heard progress reports from the four Contact Groups on the ongoing work in Busan Korea.
The Co-Chairs reported that no provisions/articles were ready to be forwarded to the Legal Drafting Group (LDG). Noting that progress has been “too slow” and underscoring that “time is of the essence,” the INC Chair called upon delegates to significantly increase the pace of their work, focusing on essential elements with additional elements left to the future governing body, and highlighted that a substantive draft of the ILBI is required by Friday 29 November.
There is a sense of frustration amongst officials and negotiators as the deadline approaches.
But Mr Veari Kula, the Manager of the Infrastructure, Utilities and Convention Branch at PNG’s Conservation and Environment Protection Authority, is quick to remind that this is more than just negotiating a treaty for the sake of an agreement.
“The impact of plastic pollution on our communities back home is already very serious,” he said.
“When we see the impacts of plastic pollution on our islands in the Pacific, we want our work here to be meaningful and we want a treaty, one that is fit for our needs and helps us.”
Mr Kura, who has been engaged in the INC process since the first INC in Uruguay, is the Pacific lead for the waste management stream. We catch up with him today on the state of play.
QUESTION: What is the Pacific asking for in terms of the area of the plastics treaty negotiations that you follow?
Answer: For this treaty we need consideration for the special circumstances of Small Island Developing States. We know the constraints we have in terms of capacity and the challenges that come with being small islands, things like access to technology, finance and so forth. I think there needs to be special consideration for SIDS in this particular article. For example, the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme, there are limitations at the national level. This needs to be extended to cover the global stage where we collect and export overseas for disposal, this is not just for national level alone it has to accommodate what’s happening on the global stage.
Question: Can you talk to the progress of the negotiations/or perhaps the lack of?
Answer: With the limited time remaining, it’s important we progress things very quickly. We don’t want to be bogged down repeating and going over issues we’ve already covered during previous INCs. I think we need to be strategic in our approaches, I anticipate a lot of push back in some areas but that’s not surprising here.
If we are going to get somewhere this week, we need to converge now to highlight what are the common themes we can work on so we can get this treaty work moving forward. Otherwise we are going to walk away from Busan with no treaty and more work to do.
When we see the impacts of plastic pollution on our islands in the Pacific, this is not an outcome we want. We want our work here to be meaningful and we want a treaty, one that is fit for our needs and helps us, instead of making things harder.
Question: What will it take for INC-5 to reach a successful conclusion? What's your gut-feeling about what's going to happen in the next few days?
Answer: With diverging views coming from different groups, we may not reach an agreement on an instrument. That's my view. There are too many differences in views, diverging positions on different areas and far too many conflicting interests. My hope is that the Chair and his team can somehow provide the guidance and build bridges where they are needed. He’s going to have to do it quick because we don’t have time. We need convergence and we need unity in the process, which of course it’s a lot easier said than done. So I will be interesting what happens in the coming days.