Highlights and images for 30 May 2023

Hopes of moving from procedure to substance were high at the beginning of day two of the second session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-2) to develop an international legally binding instrument (ILBI) on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, held in Paris, France.

However, delegates again found themselves in all-day circular discussions around the application of the draft rules of procedure, as well as on how to continue proceedings on the more contentious draft rules (on voting rights and the adoption of decisions). Delegations were torn on whether the draft rules of procedure should be applied provisionally at INC-2, with some in support and others calling to adopt the rules in an expedited manner before initiating substantive discussions.

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After a round of discussions on these issues in the morning session, INC Chair Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, Peru, proposed, and delegates agreed, to try to resolve differences through open-ended consultations, co-facilitated by Hiroshi Ono (Japan) and Marcelo Cousillas (Uruguay). These consultations first took place over an extended lunch break.

When delegates returned to plenary from the consultations at the tail end of the day, Co-Facilitator Ono reported that the discussions had focused on the draft rule related to the adoption of decisions, with Co-Facilitator Cousillas outlining the new proposed options related to this draft rule. At the request of the representative from Brazil, INC Chair Meza-Cuadra suspended the plenary to allow for another round of informal discussions to break the impasse over the draft rule related to the adoption of decisions.

When plenary reconvened in the early evening, after a brief discussion, INC Chair Meza-Cuadra announced that the open-ended consultations would continue into the night with a view to arriving at a solution by Wednesday morning.