Negotiations to adopt an international treaty against plastic pollution resume on Monday 25 November in Busan, South Korea, with seven days to reach an agreement.
The treaty must both “protect human health and the environment from the harmful effects of plastic pollution” and “put an end to plastic pollution”, the two objectives being “complementary”, declared the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, Luis Vayas Valdivieso, at the beginning of November (see EUROPE 13517/16).
Regulation of plastic production, a list of products to be banned and funding for the fight against plastic pollution are among the measures identified as the most sensitive.
In a post on X on Friday 22 November, the European Commission pointed out that “32 million tonnes of plastic waste are generated in Europe every year”. Greater producer responsibility, deposit systems and eco-design for sustainable products are needed, according to the institution.
According to Luis Vayas Valdivieso, this fifth and final session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) will be decisive in asking the stakeholders to “focus [their] efforts on developing convergence” with a view to adopting a final text.
The latter would like the latest version of its informal note, published at the beginning of November (see EUROPE 13517/16), to serve as a starting point for negotiations, but the disagreements appear to be as numerous as the 175 participating countries.
See the CIN note on the organisation of negotiations in Busan: https://aeur.eu/f/egb (Original version in French by Florent Servia)