Plastic-free planet: Negotiations on Global Plastics Treaty underway

Subject: Environment

Section: Species in news

Context:

On May 29, 2023, members of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) gathered in Paris for the second meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on Plastic Pollution, also known as INC-2.

Details:

INC-2, a successor of INC-1, held in Punta del Este, Uruguay, last year, is the international community’s chance set the stage for negotiations on a global deal to end plastic pollution.

INC-1

The Uruguay round was the first formal meeting of the body tasked with preparing the future legal instrument on plastics.The meeting focused on the administration and organisation of the negotiating body,including the election of a bureau and adoption of the rules of Procedure(a document that sets forth the ‘rules’ on how the committee will operate and is critical to the long term success of the negotiations and the treaty.INC-1 ended without any resolution

INC-2

In the INC-2 meeting- apart from the plenary where member states make general statements, two parallel contact groups have been established. Contact group 1 will focus on the treaty’s objectives and core obligations, including control measures and voluntary actions. While contact group 2 will focus on the implementation measures and means of implementation.

Major stakeholders:

Apart from the member states, there are nine major groups and stakeholders: Non-profits, women, workers and trade unions, the scientific community, farmers, indigenous communities, children and youth, local authorities, businesses and industry.

Accredited organisations and their role in negotiations:
- Accredited organisations can also be observers in UNEP meetings.
- Observer status is a privilege granted to non-members to allow them to participate in the organisation’s activities.
- Observers are not allowed to make interventions during the process of the negotiations.
- However, the observers are seen as agencies that can influence the priorities and decisions taken by certain member states.
Open-ended working group (OEWG):
- In UNEA resolution 5/14, the assembly mandated an ad hoc open-ended working group (OEWG) to lay the groundwork for negotiations.
- One of the key tasks of the OEWG was establishing Rules of Procedure which govern INC.
- In the INC-2 meeting — apart from the plenary where member states make general statements, two parallel contact groups have been established.
  - Contact group 1 will focus on the treaty’s objectives and core obligations, including control measures and voluntary actions.
  - While contact group 2 will focus on the implementation measures and the means of implementation.

Go circular to end plastic pollution:

The report, tilted Turning off the Tap: How the world can end plastic pollution and create a circular economy, has been launched by the UNEP.
Global plastic pollution can reduce by 80 per cent by 2040 if countries and companies make deep policy and market shifts using existing technologies and shift to a circular economy.
Countries need to make three market shifts — reuse, recycle, and reorient & diversify.
Even with such measures, 100 million tonnes of plastics from single-use and short-lived products will still need to be safely dealt with annually by 2040 — together with a significant legacy of existing plastic pollution.

Suggestions of the report:

Setting and implementing design and safety standards for disposal of non-recyclable plastic waste, and making manufacturers responsible for products shedding microplastics, among others.
The report also highlighted that the highest costs in both a throwaway and circular economy are operational.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes can cover these operational costs of ensuring the system’s circularity through requiring producers to finance the collection, recycling and responsible end-of-life disposal of plastic product.
The report recommended a global fiscal framework could be part of international policies to enable recycled materials to compete on a level playing field with virgin materials, create an economy of scale for solutions, and establish monitoring systems and financing mechanisms.

Benefits of shifting to a circular economy:

It would result in $1.27 trillion in savings, considering costs and recycling revenues.
A further $3.25 trillion would be saved from avoided externalities such as health, climate, air pollution, marine ecosystem degradation, and litigation-related costs.
This shift could also result in a net increase of 700,000 jobs by 2040.
Investment costs for the recommended systemic change are significant, but below the spending without this systemic change: $65 billion per year as opposed to $113 billion per year.
Much of this can be mobilised by shifting planned investments for new production facilities or a levy on virgin plastic production into the necessary circular infrastructure.