The negotiators have until the end of 2024 to strike a deal to control plastics, which produce an estimated 400 million tonnes of waste every year
The third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, took place from November 13 to 19, 2023 at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.
The INC began its work during the second half of 2022 and with the latest INC-3, negotiators were expected to discuss an initial draft of a global instrument released earlier this year, to address the full life cycle of plastic.
This includes its production, design and disposal. Delegates from across the globe engaged in discussions on revised sections of the zero draft text and Synthesis Report at the INC-3.
The meeting faced some challenges in reaching a consensus among Member States for one contact group. The plastics industry, oil and petrochemical exporters, including Russia and Saudi Arabia, have said a global deal should promote recycling and re-use of plastic.
Still, environmental campaigners and some governments say much less needs to be produced in the first place.
A day before the closing of INC-3, delegates had completed a first review of the contents of the revised sections of the zero draft related to the modalities and means of implementation of the future instrument on plastic pollution.
The Indian delegation at INC-3 took a position asserting for no control on polymer production. It did so opposing the cap on the production segment in the proposed Zero Draft policy on plastic production.
The negotiators have until the end of 2024 to strike a deal to control plastics, which produce an estimated 400 million tonnes of waste every year. INC-4 will be held in April 2024 in Canada.
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