IPEN Letter to the Bureau of the INC on Plastic Pollution

Participation و transparency in the intersessional work leading up to INC 5.4

Distinguished Members of the Bureau,

We are writing as co-chairs of the International Pollutants Elimination Network, an international network of 700 organizations in over 130 countries. We support the development of a strong Plastics Treaty and are therefore deeply concerned that the current limitations on transparency and inclusivity risk undermining both the efficiency and the legitimacy of the process. The INCs have consistently been characterized by limited participation and transparency, concerns we have previously raised with the Bureau and former Chairs.^1,2,3 Continuing the work in this manner risks deepening mistrust and creating conditions that could favour those who are interested in stalling progress or undermining work toward a meaningful treaty.

While we appreciate the Chair’s commitment to engaging with observers, it is important that such engagement does not become a substitute for their meaningful participation in the negotiations. Rather, it should complement a broader process that remains transparent, inclusive and participatory.

The report from the last bureau meeting notes that the Secretariat, together with the Chair, will develop proposals on observer engagement. We welcome these discussions on how to improve observer engagement. Among other potential tactics, we suggest the following be implemented to help ensure meaningful observer engagement:

• Regular public reporting from Heads of Delegation meetings– these discussions should not take place in isolation. Sharing progress openly helps build trust and facilitate alignment across member states. Options for this for which there is precedence include written report-backs and parallel open-ended consultations that include all delegations and observers.
• Live-streaming Heads of Delegations meeting for observers accredited to the INC. Access to proceedings enables observers to better understand evolving needs and contribute efficiently.
• Ensuring that any in-person intersessional meetings are open to observers. The in-person intersessional meeting currently discussed for early October will present an important stock-taking and solution-seeking moment. It is common practice across many multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) to allow observer participation during intersessional work processes and that should be the standard here to ensure that negotiators have access to expertise and experience provided by observers supporting the process.
• Ensuring timely access to all relevant working documents, including guiding questions and informal reference documents. In addition, observers should be provided clear, accessible opportunities to review and submit comments on these materials. This is common practice in many other MEAs.

Additionally, to safeguard the principles of inclusivity and transparency, we wish to highlight that it is important to ensure that any potential “Friends of the Chair” groups have clear and narrow mandates, so that such groups complement rather than duplicate the work of the elected bureau. Any “Friends of the Chair” groups should be held transparently and composed with diverse representation.

IPEN has spent two decades gathering global data on the toxic impacts of plastics.⁴ As observers, we bring valuable expertise to this process, including decades of experience in multilateral environmental agreements, in-depth knowledge on challenges and solutions from local and regional levels, and scientific expertise on plastics. While we recognize that certain discussions may require confidentiality, openness should remain the default, in line with UNEA Resolution 5/14 which “stresses the need to ensure the widest and most effective participation possible.”

We remain committed to engaging constructively, with the shared objective of delivering an ambitious and health-protective Plastics Treaty.

Sincerely,

Gohar Khojayan and Yuyun Ismawati

IPEN Co-chairs IPEN Co-chairs

 

 1 https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/46048/Fair_Participation_IPEN_Letter.pdf

2 https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/46905/IPEN_Letter.pdf

3 https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/48349/Letter_INC_5.2_participation.pdf

4 https://ipen-plastic-map.vercel.app