Highlights and images for 27 November 2024

Money was a central concern for delegates as they met on the third day of the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) to develop an international legally binding instrument (ILBI) on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. The other big-ticket item that held delegates’ attention was technical. Which products and chemicals could be regulated by the new treaty? How will design standards for plastic products be handled? How will the treaty address plastic production and supply issues?

Want to dig deeper into today's talks? Read the full Earth Negotiations Bulletin daily report.

Delegates continued to engage in candid discussions, sharing views on the INC Chair’s Non-Paper, with references to the compilation of draft text (UNEP/PP/INC.5/4). Three contact groups met at various points during the day, namely:

• Contact Group 1, co-chaired by Maria Angélica Ikeda (Brazil) and Axel Borchmann (Germany), mandated to address plastic products, chemicals of concern as used in plastic products, product design, and production/supply and related aspects;
• Contact Group 3, co-chaired by Gwendalyn Kingtaro Sisior (Palau) and Katherine Lynch (Australia), mandated to discuss finance, including the establishment of a financial mechanism, capacity building, technical assistance and technology transfer, and international cooperation; and
• Contact Group 4, co-chaired by Han Min Young (Republic of Korea) and Linroy Christian (Antigua and Barbuda), mandated to consider objective, scope, preamble and principles, as well as implementation and compliance, national plans, reporting, monitoring of progress and effectiveness evaluation, information exchange, and awareness, education and research.

In their discussions on finance, delegates spent some time deciding which of the state submissions could be the basis for their negotiations, particularly on the establishment of a financial mechanism. With several proposals submitted on Tuesday night, two stood out. One, championed by a group of developing countries, set out a path for a dedicated, standalone financial mechanism funded, primarily, by developed countries. The other, spearheaded by a group of developed countries, favored the Global Environment Facility as the financial mechanism, and outlined means to mobilize finances from a wide range of sources, including from any and all countries with plastic production facilities.

In Contact Group 1, several states provided submissions on articles related to plastic products and chemicals of concern, and supply. Discussions on both these issues proved contentious, with some states “categorically against” including them in the future ILBI. Others, noting that these provisions are at the core of the new treaty, proposed that the Co-Chairs prepare a compiled text with converging positions. This was opposed by a group of countries, noting this would go beyond the mandate given to them in Plenary.

Delegates also convened in a stocktaking plenary in the late afternoon and into the early evening. With contact groups reporting that no text was yet cleared to forward to the Legal Drafting Group, INC Chair Luis Vayas (Ecuador) strongly urged the Committee to redouble their efforts in order to finalize text to send to the drafting group. Delegations then shared their perspectives on the way forward, including a proposal from Chile and Switzerland to forward the final provisions of the ILBI to the Legal Drafting Group. This was opposed by a group of countries, who noted that forwarding provisions for legal scrubbing without the agreement of the Committee would go against the agreed process. INC Chair Vayas clarified that all the text would be forwarded to plenary before being taken up by the Legal Drafting Group.

Delegates reconvened in contact groups in the evening and into the night, also addressing articles related to final provisions, among others.