The 5th meeting of the  Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC-5) convened in the midst of a dense season of multilateral negotiations. The difficult week demonstrated reverberating private interests while continuing to reveal the inextricable physical link among global challenges: “Plastic pollution is changing the processes of the entire Earth system, exacerbating climate change, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification, and the use of freshwater and land, according to scientific analysis.” The recognition that plastic pollution is a critical consideration for both the health of the planet and of people has deemed it “the most important environmental treaty since the 2015 Paris Agreement”. Despite the fact that the negotiations were unable to successfully conclude its work, a clear signal has been sent indicating that now more than ever, stakeholders must come together to promote the establishment of a fair, climate-just agreement for all. Regional activities continue to be an important vehicle to amplify these messages, both responding to and influencing global dynamics.  

INC-5 Chair Luis Vayas, Ecuador, gavels the decisions to resume discussions at INC-5.2, ISSD/ENB – Kiara Worth 

Before diving into the complexities of the international nuances affecting current political movements related to multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), specifically those relevant to the development of an internationally binding agreement on plastics, perhaps it is important to pause to recognise the obvious: plastics and plastic waste have become ubiquitous in our world. Over the course of a relatively short time, there has been a rapid sweep of the use of plastics into the lives of nearly every single person on this planet. According to the Global Plastics Outlook: “The world is producing twice as much plastic waste as two decades ago, with the bulk of it ending up in landfill, incinerated or leaking into the environment, and only 9% successfully recycled.” 

The pervasiveness of plastics threatens to eclipse our ability to even recognise its existence. Ask yourself how many times you have encountered plastic so far in your day? Perhaps you are aware of the plastic around food packaging, but have you considered soaps, shampoos, toothpaste, cosmetics, clothing and towels? What about cars, bicycles and transportation, credit cards, tickets and signs? Each occurrence of plastic represents an entire life cycle from manufacture to end-use that is leaking chemicals and wastes across continents and through natural ecosystems.  

The more pervasive plastic becomes, the more it has the potential to simply blend into a sense of normal. As we aim to share ‘truth4change’, it is important to raise awareness of the plastic in our lives. In order to make a shift and transition away from the overuse of plastics and responsibly manage its wastes, there is a need for partnerships and support from the government. These are some of the reasons underpinning the need to establish a legally-binding instrument on plastic pollution.  

Without appropriate regulations, the plastic industry could continue to mushroom and devastatingly affect life on this planet. The Mediterranean, a semi-closed basin, is a natural collection point for the flows of the rivers, collecting large deposits of waste from inland areas. Together with the region’s long coastline and maritime traffic, the Mediterranean is one the most affected regions by marine litter in the world (UNEP/WAP, 2015).  

Perspective on Plastics

The momentum building in ongoing MEAs reaches outside of actual negotiations to serve as an impetus for applied research, science, and academia. These important social institutions are making it clearer than ever how pervasive plastics are actually affecting our lives. Carbon Brief, a UK-based website covering developments in climate science, climate policy and energy policy, recently published interesting infographics to illustrate the relevance of plastic to climate change. Demonstrating impacts beyond pollution, their infographics explain plastics contribution to the global demand for oil. “Production, use and disposal of plastics is responsible for around 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions and they are typically made from fossil fuels. Plastics production is expected to be one of the leading drivers of oil demand growth over the coming years.”  

 The results of the Carbon Brief research indicate that a strong treaty on plastics could curb future emissions through measures to reduce plastics use, thereby curbing the demand on oil. In fact, the top seven single use plastic-producing companies in the world are also fossil fuel companies. This is perhaps why INC-5 negotiations saw a strong showing from oil-producing countries and companies to limit the scope of the future treaty on production and focus more on recycling as a measure to not cap future demand for oil.  

Plastic Promises

Fatumanava-O-Upolu Luteru, Samoa, on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), ISSD/ENB – Kiara Worth

Consultations continued behind closed doors, ISSD/ENB – Kiara Worth

INC-5 convened in Busan, Republic of Korea from 25 November to 2 December with the aim of fulfilling its mandate by UNEA 5.2 to tackle plastic pollution which began in the second half of 2022, and carried the ambition to complete work by the end of 2024. The negotiations failed to conclude this process, agreeing to continue in 2025 in what will be INC-5.2. INC Chair Luis Vayas closing remarks cited Spanish poet Antonio Machado in his closing remarks: “Walker, there is no path, the path is made by walking” and noting that: “In Busan, we have made progress by making and walking paths. Although our achievements so far are important, they remain insufficient.”  

Despite the disappointment, first steps were taken to make agreement for the treaty. The work that did take place, standing on the progress that has been made from previous sessions, will be put to work in the coming year to shape the scope and function of the eventual treaty. Tallash Kantai, plastics consultant, acknowledged some of the important steps taken during INC-5: “At this meeting, delegates made steps towards closing the gap on very divergent positions on issues such as capacity building and technical assistance for developing countries who will need this to implement the future treaty. They also discussed more concrete proposals on finance, and are closer than ever before to agreeing how the funds for treaty implementation will be raised: the thinking is that a portion must come from public sources and another portion needs to be raised from private sources, including introducing a few for virgin plastic production. However, none of these aspects of the future treaty text are agreed. These issues were just less intractable than some of the others.” 

Regional Engagement 

ISSD/ENB – Kiara Worth

MedWaves, housed at the Waste Agency of Catalonia and as the UNEP/MAP Regional Activity Center for Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) (former SCP/RAC), supports Protocols of the Barcelona Convention aimed at preventing multiple forms of pollution in the Mediterranean, among other activities. The Regional Plan on Marine Litter Management (RPML) in the Mediterranean is the first-ever legally binding instrument to prevent and reduce marine litter and plastic pollution and to remove existent marine litter, using environmentally sound techniques. 

MedWaves participated in INC-5 to share regional experiences from on-the-ground programming that has taken the steps to curb use and waste of plastic. For example, MedWaves was integral in the development of the Regional Plan for the Marine Litter management in the Mediterranean and in supporting a strong policy framework within the region through technical guidelines to help regulate single-use plastics (SUPs), such as through Guidelines to Tackle SUP Products in the Mediterranean. 

MedWaves participated in the WWF side event on 29 of November: Engaging Key Players for the Success of the Global Plastic Pollution Treaty. Ignasi Mateo, Green Entrepreneurship & Civil Society, MedWaves presented on moving from policy to concrete actions, highlighting MedWaves projects and initiatives such as Pilots Plastic Busters MPAs, CapiMedIslands project and the MedWaves Guidelines to tackle SUP in the Mediterranean.  

In the Rethinking Plastic Life Forum on 26 November, MedWaves participated in a panel discussion with representatives from a municipality in Japan (Kitakyushu), Korea (Kaohsiung City), the US (La Crosse), and an NGO representative from Nigeria (Community Action Against Plastic Waste) during the Local and Subnational Governments on the Challenges and Opportunities side event.  

The event organized by ICLEI to present the LSNG coalition provided an opportunity for Ignasi to highlight opportunities to engage tourism in solutions: “One of the main challenges in relation with plastic pollution in Catalonia is about how to involve/engage tourism industry to implement sustainable practices to reduce the amount of SUP in this sector (like reduce amenities, packaging, picnic and take-away SUP and promote reusable business models) and reduce the impact of plastic waste in the marine environment.”  

He expressed a sense of optimism that it is possible for the tourism sector to innovate by: providing visitors with environmentally friendly options, educating consumers, pushing industry and administration to find solutions to tackle plastic pollution. He cited examples of MedWaves intervention on Marine Litter Med II, CapiMed Islands and Plastic Busters projects. Ignasi also addressed the plastic petrochemical industry located in the south of Catalonia that produces the 25% of primary plastic polymers in Spain. Referring to the raw material known as pellets, Ignasi warned how this material can be lost at different stages of production, transport, transformation and manipulation, causing contamination of beaches locally and as far as the Balearic Islands. He expressed: “We need a strong commitment of the industry and at policy level the EU and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) are working on guidelines/regulations on how to avoid the pellet losses.” 

Igansi also addressed the need to reduce beverage containers, sharing experience of collaboration within the EU to apply ambitious legislation for recycling, indicating the need to see through the success of such initiatives with more efficient collection systems like deposit and return systems (DRS) and an extended producer responsibility mechanism. 

The positive outlook of MedWaves has been earned by experience. Ignasi shared a successful case from 2022, when the Catalan administration promoted the Circular Fashion Pact: a voluntary agreement from the textile sector, including manufacturers, distribution and retailers, waste managers, administration, research centers and NGOs, to transition to a circular model. He voiced support for a strong treaty on plastics: 

“The future instrument on plastic pollution will strengthen regional coordination and cooperation mechanisms to address transboundary plastic pollution issues. We also hope that the new instrument must recognize and incorporate multiple levels of governance (and include the voice of local and subnational governments) to effectively implement the measures/actions and initiatives foreseen in the agreement.” 

By the close of INC-5, despite progress made, Tallash Kantai reflected that “everything is still on the table.” From whether or not virgin plastic production should be capped to “sustainable levels”, how to address legacy plastic (those that already exist on the planet) to determining if the treaty will list chemicals of concern that are added to plastic products. “The architecture of the treaty still needs to be agreed, but at the moment, everything is still up for grabs, giving us a mix of voluntary and/or mandatory measures carried out through global rules and/or national regulations.“