The ongoing negotiation and framing of the future Plastics Treaty is an opportunity to address and protect human health and the environment from the harmful effects of plastics throughout their life cycle. This will require strong, legally binding control provisions that call for the elimination of toxic chemicals throughout the life cycle of plastics and mandatory, publicly available, and accessible disclosure of information on chemicals used in plastics.
The third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-3) to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, is scheduled to take place from 13 to 19 November 2023 at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. The session will be preceded by regional consultations on 12 November 2023.
Following are excerpts from IPEN's Quickviews -- download the full document, below, for more information.
Stockholm Convention
Listing of chemicals in Annex A to the Convention
The POPs Review Committee (POPRC) has determined that three persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic POPs are likely, as a result of long-range environmental transport, to lead to significant adverse effects on human health and the environment, such that global action is warranted.
Founded in 1998 to contribute to the negotiations of the Stockholm Convention, IPEN has contributed over nearly 25 years to all of the major international instruments on chemicals and waste, and with the start of the new negotiations for a Plastics Treaty we look forward to working toward an ambitious agreement. Our Quick Views include our analysis and recommendations for the INC-1 negotiations in Uruguay beginning in November 2022.
The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) has called for this meeting of an ad hoc open-ended working group to prepare for the work of the intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) on a Plastics Treaty. UNEA resolution 5/14 specifies that the INC is to develop an international legally binding agreement based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full lifecycle of plastic, and, among other provisions, calls for an agreement
A draft resolution has been put forward to the Fifth meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA 5), with a proposal to establish a new Science-Policy Panel to support action on chemicals, waste and pollution.
IPEN has engaged in the science-policy discussions under the BRS- and Minamata Conventions, SAICM and UNEA for many years. The February 2022 paper (below) aims to share our views on this topic in contribution to both the science-policy discussions at UNEA and in other fora.
