'End plastic pollution'... 'Rampant' again [Climate crisis now]

"In the conference room, sabotage by countries with low ambitions is in full swing. Countries that support strong agreements, such as members of the Coalition of Friendly Nations, are being helplessly dragged along by a non-binding, meaningless agreement."



This is the unanimous criticism of global civic groups participating as observers in the 5th Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC5) currently being held at BEXCO in Busan. INC5 is the 5th negotiation conference for the International Plastics Agreement.



In order to end plastic pollution, a strong and binding agreement, not a "voluntary" one, is needed, but most countries are still hesitating in this area.



On the 5th day of INC5, the 29th, a coalition of civic groups held up a banner saying, "Courage, Not Compromise," and urged each country's delegation to respond more actively to the sluggish negotiations. [Photo=Greenpeace]



Earlier on the 29th, a new non-paper for the INC5 was released. The government delegations participating in the INC5 are currently discussing the 'Non-paper', a summary of the 77-page draft agreement, in order to finalize the negotiations by the December 1 meeting deadline. After



agreeing to use the 17-page Non-paper on the 25th, the chair proposed a new Non-paper on the 29th based on the discussions in the contact group.



Graham Forbes, Greenpeace Global Plastics Campaign Leader and INC5 Greenpeace Delegation Leader, diagnosed that "the newly proposed Non-paper focuses only on the agreement itself," and "it contains many options, many of which are likely to have disastrous consequences." He



continued, "Government delegations should reject formal agreements and present measures to fundamentally resolve the problem of plastic pollution," and interpreted that "the remaining negotiation period will be a critical turning point that will determine our future."



The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) also continued to criticize. Eirik Lindebjerg, WWF Global Plastics Policy Director, criticized the new draft proposed by INC Chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso, saying, "It does not meet the basic requirement for a binding agreement to end plastic pollution, namely a global ban."



He explained, "The draft does not include specific production-level measures, such as a global ban on high-risk plastic products and chemicals of concern, which are supported by the majority of countries. Without these measures, we will not be able to truly solve the problem of plastic pollution." He urged that



countries with high ambitions stand firm to ensure that measures at the production level are included in the final agreement, and that more ambitious agreements be made among willing countries.



As there is a lack of specific implementation plans, such as production reductions, international environmental NGOs participating in the INC5 as observers are strongly pushing for last-minute negotiations, such as holding joint press conferences.



International environmental NGOs denounced, "'What we need is courage, not compromise,'" and "While countries with low ambitions are actively obstructing the talks, countries that support a strong agreement, such as the HAC members, are being dragged helplessly along by a non-binding, meaningless agreement."



They strongly criticized, "Government delegations are breaking their promises, ignoring principles, and turning a blind eye to clear scientific and economic facts and those who are most affected," and "They are only focused on ending the negotiations within the deadline while sticking to an unrealistic unanimous agreement, even if the agreement ends up being a useless agreement that does nothing to solve the plastic crisis."



International environmental NGOs, including WWF, which is participating as an observer in the INC5, held a joint press conference to urge a strong and ambitious agreement as the negotiations neared their midpoint. [Photo = WWF] They



made it clear that a weak agreement that relies on voluntary measures cannot solve the plastic problem. International environmental NGOs said, "We will fall into a vicious cycle of unnecessary damage," and urged, "Local communities suffering from plastic, the majority of citizens, scientists, and companies should create binding international rules throughout the entire cycle." They added that



the future of the Earth should not be left to compromise or to a unanimous agreement that is difficult to achieve due to pressure from a small number of countries with low ambitions, such as oil-producing countries.



Meanwhile, UN member states agreed to hold five rounds of negotiations to establish a legally binding international plastics agreement to address the problem of plastic pollution.



Four negotiations have been held since 2022, but there has been no significant progress due to conflicting claims from countries supporting a strong agreement, such as "let's reduce production itself," and from oil-producing countries, such as those seeking a weak agreement, "let's focus on waste disposal, including recycling." This fifth round of negotiations is drawing attention as an important opportunity to determine the direction of the agreement.



INC5 began at BEXCO in Busan on the 25th and will end on December 1st.





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