The journey towards a plastic-free world

Subject: Environment

Sec: Int Conventions

Context:

Under the UN Environment Assembly Resolution 5/14, the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) is responsible for delivering a global plastics treaty by 2025.

Details:

It would be an international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution worldwide.
The INC-3, held at Nairobi in November 2023, was a make-or-break opportunity as countries came together to negotiate the ‘zero draft’ text developed by the committee’s secretariat.

What does the ‘Zero Draft’ say?

It contains a strong option for an international legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution. But leave some high-impact elements like primary polymer production, chemicals of concern, problematic and short-lived plastics, trade, and financial mechanisms, among others.
A group of like-minded countries — including Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, Iran, and some members of the Gulf Cooperation Council — argued to include the clause “while contributing to the achievement of sustainable development”, to ensure their economic interests and investments.

Does the treaty discuss finance?

The zero draft contains options such as imposing a plastic-pollution fee to be paid by plastic polymer producers, and another on reducing the financial flow into projects with a high carbon footprint.

Are there limits on plastic trade?

The draft tries to fill the gap in the plastic trade that was not included in the Basel convention, but any restrictions on trade is considered to be impinging on the freedom and sovereignty of nations.
The Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL), a non-profit in Washington, D.C., has found that the bloc (of like-minded countries) misconstrued the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules to their advantage.
- The WTO rules provide for sufficient scope for trade restrictions when they are “necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health” and nothing prohibits states under international law to regulate or restrict the trade of certain products and materials.

What is the issue with the rules of procedure?

A handful of countries, including India, continued to demand consensus-based decision-making instead of a two-thirds vote majority.
Now, the INC-4 meeting will decide the rules of procedure.
The African Group of Countries and Small-Island Developing States (SIDS) advocated for strong binding provisions for the high-impact elements in the treaty. They championed the voices of waste-pickers and indigenous peoples and approached the treaty from a human rights and public health perspective.