There were two main groups by the end of the first meeting to negotiate a UN treaty to end plastic pollution in early December 2022. The countries that believe “goals and efforts should be global and mandatory” and those that believe it should be “voluntary and country-led,” Valerie Volcovici wrote for Reuters. She continued, “[t]he negotiations in the coastal city of Punta del Este pitted a ‘High Ambition Coalition,’ including European Union members, against countries including the United States and Saudi Arabia, which have the world’s top plastic and petrochemical companies.”
On February 13, 2023, the United States submitted its opening proposal for the Plastics Treaty to the UN Environment Program. The US proposal focuses on the downstream management of plastics – recycling and reuse, along with redesigning products to use less or use easier to manage plastics. The US proposal states, “[w]e believe that prescriptive measures alone would not sufficiently accommodate the diversity of consumer and social behaviors, production practices, and environmental factors across countries.”
Some commitments proposed by the US for the treaty include (i) “Measures to enhance the circularity of plastic, including through reuse,” (ii) “Processes… to consider product design and develop transparent labeling of plastic products that can… facilitate reuse and recycling,” and (iii) “Measures to strengthen environmentally sound management of plastic waste…”
If following the US proposal, each nation would create a national action plan “that outlines how it will contribute to the achievement of the instrument’s [the plastics treaty’s] objective, including how it intends to implement obligations specified in the instrument with regard to preventing, reducing, or eliminating plastic pollution.”
The proposal put forward by Norway and Rwanda on behalf of the 40 States that make up the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution instead argues for more pressure on the supply side of the plastics value chain. They put forward four provisions to consider in the treaty: (i) implementing reductions on primary polymer production; (ii) to “restrict specific plastic polymers, chemicals, and plastic products of concern;” (iii) increasing circularity through transparency in the supply chain; and (iv) establishing specific measures for eliminating release into the environment, including measures for microplastics, and “the handling, storage, transport, and processing of plastic pellets, flakes, and powders.”
Representatives from 160 countries met in Punta del Este, Uruguay for the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC, FPF reported) in December 2022. Since then, more than 60 nations have submitted proposals to UNEP along with more than 200 comments from civil society.
The Rules of Procedure to organize negotiations have not yet been adopted. Agreement was not reached by the end of the first meeting and the vote was postponed. Civil society group Break Free From Plastic wrote, “[t]he outstanding issues include whether EU Member States will each have a vote or whether they will be treated as a single bloc during voting, and whether decisions should only be arrived at via consensus.” After which they added, “to many observers, the latter seems to be a ploy to weaken strong measures that could be adopted to reduce plastic production.”
The INC plans to complete negotiations by the end of 2024 after five meetings. The second session of the INC on the Plastics Treaty will take place from May 29 to June 2, 2023, at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France. Interested stakeholders can register to participate until April 28, 2023.
References
Break Free From Plastic (December 2, 2022). “First Global Plastics Treaty Intergovernmental Meeting Concludes With a Mix of High and Low Points.”
Valerie Volcovici (December 2, 2022). “Countries split on plastics treaty focus as U.N. talks close.” Reuters
Read more
UNEP. “Intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) on plastic pollution.”
Joe Bruggers. (February 28, 2023). “Biden Administration’s Global Plastics Plan Dubbed ‘Low Ambition’ and ‘Underwhelming’.” Inside Climate News
Marissa Heffernan (December 6, 2022). “Stakeholders react as Global Plastics Treaty talks wrap up.” Plastics Recycling Update
Olivia Rosane (December 9, 2022). “A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the First Round of Negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty.” EcoWatch
Megan Quinn (December 7, 2022). “UN plastics treaty negotiations show initial stances of activists, industry and governments.” Waste Dive
