UN environment chief sees progress on ambitious plastics deal

Nairobi, April 30 (dpa/GNA) – Negotiations on an ambitious global agreement to combat plastic pollution are well underway after the fourth round of talks in Canada, the head of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Inger Andersen, said on Tuesday.

“However, the work is far from over,” she said on Tuesday. “The plastic pollution crisis continues to sweep the world and we have just a few months to go until the year-end date we agreed on in 2022.”

During the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on the agreement, more than 2,500 delegates discussed emissions, waste management and problematic or avoidable plastics.

Since the 1950s, around 9.2 billion tonnes of plastic have been produced – roughly equivalent to the weight of 910,000 Eiffel Towers, according to UN figures. The vast majority are not biodegradable and eventually end up as waste in landfills or in the ocean.

The next round of negotiations, known as INC-5, is scheduled for November in Busan, South Korea.

“We came to Ottawa to advance the text and in the hope that members would agree on the inter-session work needed to make even greater progress leading up to INC-5. We leave Ottawa having achieved both goals and found a clear path to securing an ambitious deal in Busan,” said Andersen.

The executive secretary of the negotiating committee, Jyoti Mathur-Filipp, spoke of commitment and willingness to compromise. “This is more than a process – it is the fulfillment of your commitment to save future generations from the global scourge of plastic pollution.”

The Group of Seven (G7), which leads Western industrialized countries, also supports the plastics treaty, a German minister said.

“As industrialized countries, we have a special obligation to curb the impact of the massive pollution crisis. As G7 countries, we are committed to reducing global plastic production and consumption,” German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke said at the meeting of G7 climate, energy and environment ministers in Italy.

The G7 also wants to quickly ratify the UN Convention on the Protection of the High Seas.

“We depend on healthy oceans to fight the climate crisis, the pollution crisis and the species extinction crisis. The UN Convention for the Protection of the High Seas BBNJ (Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction) is the first set of rules to protect biodiversity in the world’s oceans,” said Lemke.

Protected areas on the high seas must be quickly designated to bring 30% of the world’s oceans under strict protection, she said.

“Here in Turin, we as G7 make a clear commitment to the agreement and promise to ratify it quickly by June 2025. The agreement can only enter into force once 60 states have ratified it,” said Lemke.

She also welcomed the establishment of the G7 Water Coalition. “We need common strategies and objectives to protect our global water resources. Last year’s UN Water Conference created unprecedented political momentum in the water sector. We want to use this together to promote integrated water management worldwide,” said Lemke.

At their meeting on the outskirts of Turin on Monday, ministers already agreed to phase out coal production by 2035.

Italy currently holds the presidency of the G7. The G7 is a forum of the heads of state and government of seven major industrialized countries: Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada and the United States. The European Union is also represented at G7 meetings.

GNA

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