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Ahead of the upcoming Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) meeting in August to decide the rules in the international plastics treaty, a total of 133 civil society groups have raised concerns regarding transparency on the appointment of technical experts.
The meeting will be venued at Thailand's Bangkok in August.
In a letter addressed to the INC Secretary, Jyoti Mathur-Filipp, the INC Chair, Luis Vayas Valdivieso, and the members of the Bureau, the groups raised concerns about the restrictions on the participation of observers and the lack of transparency.
They demanded that the experts should be unequivocally free from conflicts of interest–who will be attending the upcoming meeting. Additionally, it calls for an open application process, allowing accredited observer organizations to register at least one representative.
“Limiting meetings exclusively to representatives from government agencies without allowing participation from civil society hinders the exchange of ideas and perspectives, which is detrimental to all parties involved," Penchom Saetang, Director, Ecological Alert and Recovery-Thailand (EARTH-Thailand was quoted
The request from civil society groups for fair and meaningful participation comes at a time when more than 170 countries are preparing to participate in the intersessional meeting next month.
The Global Plastic Treaty is an issue that extensively concerns people worldwide and for the public benefit. Therefore, restricting the involvement of civil society in this matter does not lead to positive outcomes and reflects narrow-minded thinking by the Secretariat.”
With the fifth and last scheduled round of negotiations to be held in Busan, South Korea, a lot is at stake to create a successful Global Plastics Treaty that can bring an end to the crisis of plastic pollution.
Meanwhile, echoing Saetang's views, Cecilia Bianco - Latin American and Caribbean Network for the Reduction of Plastic Production with Globally Binding Targets, said:
"We are very concerned that due to the measures taken by the Secretariat, a large number of observers will be left out of the inter-sessional meetings where fundamental issues such as financing, plastic products, and chemical substances of concern will be discussed. It is clear that when it is considered that observers can join delegations, there is a lack of knowledge of the legislation of many countries, where only ministry and foreign ministry staff can be part of a delegation," she was quoted.
