Plastics Restrictions Treaty Negotiations

• If successful, a convention in Busan next year will adopt the text and set the ground for periodic meetings to develop a legally binding treaty to gradually eliminate plastic.

• The United Nations Environmental Programme Executive Director, Inger Andersen, emphasized the urgency of ending plastic pollution.

• Despite global consensus on plastic pollution, many countries, including petro-states and those with significant plastic polymer industries, resist limiting plastic production.

• Negotiations will focus on a ‘non-paper’, a document synthesising common ground from previous negotiations.

• The committee will aim for resolution on four broad themes: plastic products, chemicals used in plastic products, plastic waste management, finance, and implementation and compliance.

• A legal drafting group is expected to work on the initial and final provisions of the treaty.