Stockholm (NordSIP) – Following Colombia’s biodiversity COP16 and Azerbaijan’s climate COP29 crucial international environmental negotiations continue this week with the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC-5), which runs from 25 November to 1 December 2024 in Busan, Republic of Korea.
Global awareness of the scale of the plastic pollution crisis has grown significantly since the first such global plastics conference in 2022, as well as the industry’s negative impact on the interconnected climate and biodiversity crises. INC-5 is the final round of negotiations ahead of the expected implementation of a ’Paris Agreement equivalent’ for the plastic pollution crisis in 2025. A global sense of urgency has emerged as new research uncovers the sheer scale and pervasive nature of plastic pollution, as expressed by Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) which oversees the INC process: “The moment of truth is here to end plastic pollution. Not a single person on this planet wants to witness plastic in their communities or washing up on their shores. Not a single person wants chemical-laced plastic particles in their bloodstreams, organs, or their unborn babies,” she said at the opening of the talks.
The scale of the plastic waste crisis
Approximately 400 million tonnes of plastic waste are produced annually. Despite the industry’s longstanding promotion of downstream solutions focused on waste management and circularity, average global plastic recycling rates remain below 10%. This means that the remainder is either incinerated, disposed of in landfill, or ends up littering the land and marine environments. Moreover, 99% of virgin plastic is produced from hydrocarbon feedstocks with the potential to use up one third of the world’s remaining carbon budget. There is also great concern from the scientific community over the adverse health and environmental effects of the thousands of chemicals used in the manufacture of raw plastics. Nevertheless, according to the OECD unless action is taken now, annual plastics production, use and waste generation are projected to increase by 70% in 2040 compared to 2020. It also predicts a 50% increase of plastic leakage into the land and aquatic environments over the same period.
Source: OECD (2024), Policy Scenarios for Eliminating Plastic Pollution by 2040
It is against this backdrop that more than 3,800 delegates from 177 countries and 600 organisations have gathered in Busan to finalise what has thus far been a fraught and controversial negotiation process. Analysis by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) has revealed that 220 fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists have registered for INC-5, the largest industry representation at INCs to date and effectively outnumbering all other delegations. According to the CIEL, the plastics and petrochemicals sector is desperate to protect its revenue streams in the face of historically low profit margins and overcapacity. Plastics are also seen by oil majors such as ExxonMobil and Shell as hedge against declining fossil fuel use in the energy and transport sectors. These firms and their industry various associations have intensified their lobbying efforts against the global plastic treaty. New research by corporate lobbying focused non-profit think tank InfluenceMap has revealed more than 300 instances of unsupportive statements coming from the petrochemical industry since March 2022.
Key targets for INC-5
While the plastics industry consistently promotes waste management and recycling as solutions, proponents of the global plastics treaty are hoping to address the problem at source by imposing global and nationally determined caps on the production of raw virgin plastics. Another key objective is greater transparency regarding the chemicals sued in plastic production and ban on those deemed toxic to human health and the natural environment. International trade and financial mechanism will also be required to support the implementation of any new rules. With only a week to achieve a global consensus and intense resistance from the industry, INC-5 faces a great challenge in agreeing a global plastics treaty sufficient ambitious and binding to effectively stem the mounting tide of plastic waste.
