Countries “will have to be open to accepting a more targeted treaty”, said Luis Vayas Valdivieso, Chair of Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on the Plastics Treaty, in a non-paper sent to national delegations on 24 September.
According to him a “simplification of the structure and content of the treaty” will be necessary to reach an agreement at the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC), scheduled from 25 November to 1 December in Busan, South Korea, according to the Ecuadorian ambassador.
As it stands, the text would make negotiations in Busan “very difficult, if not impossible”, warned the Chair of the INC during a webinar organised by Geneva Environment Network on 4 October. The day before, the European Commission conceded that negotiations were difficult (see EUROPE 13496/2), but ongoing.
The main aim of the non-paper is to make the treaty “fully operational and effective”, with Mr Valdivieso specifying later in the document that the parties will only have “seven days in Busan to finalise the text”. He outlines the main features of the future International Treaty on Plastics: its preambles, its main principles, and the approaches to be followed. He distinguishes between what can be expected from the agreement on the Treaty, at the end of 2024, and the work to be carried out at a later stage, aimed at future COPs.
The main objectives of the treaty will be to “protect human health and the environment from [the adverse effects of] plastic pollution” and to “end plastic pollution”, the document states. The treaty would also introduce definitions (plastic product, microplastic); aim to eliminate emissions and discharges of plastics into the environment throughout their life cycle; require each party to manage plastic waste “in an environmentally sound manner” and mobilise resources for national activities to implement the instrument, the non-paper proposes, among other suggestions.
To see the note, go to https://aeur.eu/f/dsq (Original version in French by Florent Servia)