Solutions for Global Plastics Treaty sought in Busan on 25 November–1 December

Pressures to reach an understanding will be mounting when the representatives of the UN Member States convene in Busan, Republic of Korea, on 25 November–1 December for the last scheduled negotiations on the Global Plastics Treaty. Finland’s Chief Negotiator Tuulia Toikka from the Ministry of the Environment expects that the negotiations will be challenging.

The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) set up an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) in 2022 to develop a Global Plastics Treaty. The task of the INC was to draw up a legally binding instrument that addresses the full life cycle of plastics and plastic pollution in all environments, including the marine environment.

As a whole, the negotiations on the content of the Treaty have progressed slowly. The key issue where the views of the countries diverge is whether the target to reduce the production of plastics should be included in the new Plastics Treaty. As part of the group of about 70 countries with a high ambition, the EU is in favour of including plastics production in the Treaty. In terms of the economic policy, it is difficult for the large plastic and oil producing countries to accept that the sustainable level of the production is being considered in the process. The topics to be negotiated also include global restrictions on single-use plastic products and rules for sustainable design of plastic products. There is a wider consensus on actions related to recycling, sorting of waste and waste management.

“The outcome of the elections in the United States increases the pressures in terms of reaching a common understanding. It would be important to reach an outcome that will enable countries to join the new Plastics Treaty at a later date in future,” Tuulia Toikka says.

Among the thorny issue in the negotiations is financing as the implementation of the Plastics Treaty will require support, especially for the developing countries. The European Union considers that the present funds should be used for the financing. The private sector should also contribute to the implementation of the Treaty, in line with the ‘polluter pays’ principle. 

The draft text of the Treaty prepared during the previous rounds of negotiations is very long and difficult to understand. This is why the INC’s Chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso from Ecuador has drawn up his own proposal to serve as the basis for the negotiations in Busan. The European Union is happy with this proposal, which covers all stages of the life cycle of plastics, including the production, consumption, recycling, emissions and waste management.

If the negotiations can be started smoothly on the basis of the Chair’s proposal and there is enough political will, it is well possible to reach an agreement during the meeting in Busan.

Negotiations on plastics are part of efforts to find solutions to global triple crisis

The negotiations on the Plastics Treaty are part of the efforts to find solutions to the global triple crisis - climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. The main reason for starting the negotiations was the significant ecological harm that plastic waste causes to the global marine ecosystems. Plastics are a problem in terms of the climate as well. Now that the use of fossil raw materials in energy production has been successfully reduced under the Climate Change Agreement, the proportion of greenhouse gas emissions caused by oil used as raw material for plastics in the global climate emissions keeps growing.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, less than 10% of the plastics used in the world is recycled, about 12% is burned and the rest ends up in landfills or the environment. By 2040 greenhouse gas emissions caused by the production, use and disposal of plastics may account for as much as 19% of the global carbon dioxide emissions. Based on the WWF’s report, plastic waste kills as many as 100,000 sea mammals every year and more than 900 marine species have been found to have swallowed plastic or become entangled in it.

Inquiries:

Tuulia Toikka
Ministerial Adviser
tel. +358 40 552 4054
[email protected]

Tuulia Toikka can be reached in Finland until 21 November at 16.00 and in Busan from 23 November to 1 December at 16.00 Finnish time (time difference +7h).