IANS | 30 Apr, 2024
The fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to
develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic
pollution, including in the marine environment (INC-4), concluded in
Ottawa with an advanced draft text of the instrument and agreement on
intersessional work ahead of the fifth session (INC-5) in November.
More
than 2,500 delegates participated in INC-4, representing 170 members
and over 480 observer organizations, including non-governmental
organizations, intergovernmental organizations, and UN entities. INC-4
marked the committee's largest and most inclusive gathering to date,
with observer participation increasing by almost 50 per cent.
Over
the course of INC-4, delegates worked on negotiating the revised draft
text of the international legally binding instrument. Delegates
discussed, among other things: emissions and releases; production;
product design; waste management; problematic and avoidable plastics;
financing, and a just transition.
INC members also agreed on
intersessional work -- expert meetings that take place between the
official INC sessions -- that is expected to catalyze convergence on key
issues. In addition, members decided to create an open-ended legal
drafting group to form at INC-5, serving in an advisory capacity by
reviewing elements of the draft revised text to ensure legal soundness.
“We
came to Ottawa to advance the text and with the hope that members would
agree on the intersessional work required to make even greater progress
ahead of INC-5. We leave Ottawa having achieved both goals and a clear
path to landing an ambitious deal in Busan ahead of us,” said Inger
Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
“The
work, however, is far from over. The plastic pollution crisis continues
to engulf the world and we have just a few months left before the
end-of-year deadline agreed upon in 2022. I urge members to show
continued commitment and flexibility to achieve maximum ambition,” she
added.
INC-5 -- set to be the end of the INC process -- is scheduled for November in Busan, South Korea.