In March 2022, United Nations Member States adopted a mandate to negotiate a global plastics treaty at the resumed fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2). The mandate, “End plastic pollution: Towards an international legally binding instrument,” sets out a goal for the treaty to be negotiated before the end of 2024. While the mandate provides the general objective and frame for the negotiation, the treaty’s content will be developed over the next two years. Until then, critical questions must be resolved about the treaty’s design, reach, and function and how the work will proceed.
Following UNEA-5.2, negotiating the future instrument has unfolded, first in an ad hoc open-ended working group (OEWG) in Dakar, Senegal, which focused on developing rules of procedures for the negotiation, and subsequently in Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) meetings. The first meeting — INC-1 — occurred in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in November 2022. The second meeting —INC-2 — will take place between May 29 – June 2, 2023, in Paris, France.
The Center for International Environmental Law has produced a number of materials ahead of the negotiations, including the following:
Analyses of the UNEP-Produced Options Paper
Quick Views on Obligations and Control Measures of the UNEP Options for Elements Paper (Cluster 1)
An ‘’Options for Elements’’ Paper (UNEP/PP/INC.2/4) has been prepared for INC-2 by the Secretariat, in consultation with the Chair, and aims to reflect views expressed by Members during the INC’s first session and subsequent written submissions on desired elements for the new treaty. The final submissions to INC-2 included 62 governments, five groups of governments, and 176 stakeholders. CIEL, in partnership with the Environmental Investigation Agency, examined the Options Paper to understand what country recommendations appeared in the document.
Heatmaps of Country Submissions Ahead of INC-2
CIEL and the Environmental Investigations Agency analyzed country submissions to UNEP with an eye toward tracking common themes. The Heatmaps provide a visual analysis of country submissions, outlining positions on nine topics, including mandatory restrictions on chemicals, reporting across the full lifecycle of plastic, and support for a dedicated multilateral fund.
Materials to Further Discussion on Agenda Items
Compilation of Key Terms Relevant for the Negotiation of a Treaty to End Plastic Pollution
International treaties frequently include definitions of relevant terms. Definitions of key terms can play an important role in facilitating and supporting treaty negotiations and are often critical for implementing a treaty after its ratification. The Compilation examines over 100 terms that may be relevant for the plastics treaty, offering examples of where those terms appear in other Multilateral Environmental Agreements, as well as the European Union, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and other bodies such as the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), the Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP) and the International Standardisation Organisation (ISO).
Toward a New Instrument Addressing the Full Life Cycle of Plastics Overview of the Typology of International Legal Instruments
It is critical to understand the types of international legal instruments that states can pursue. Comprehensive discussions surrounding a potential new international instrument must include preliminary deliberations that address these questions: What type of instrument is envisaged (e.g., an agreement, treaty, convention)? And what is the potential structure of the instrument (e.g., framework, protocols, annexes/appendices)? “Toward a New Instrument Addressing the Full Life Cycle of Plastics: Overview of the Typology of International Legal Instruments” is a legal overview that provides a non-exhaustive analysis of various international legal instruments, focusing on Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs). It considers the practical distinctions, including title and the inception of the negotiation process, and provides a background on the preparation and negotiation of international instruments.
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Ensuring Meaningful Stakeholder Involvement in the Plastics Treaty Negotiations
The negotiating mandate calls for the “widest and most effective participation possible,” explicitly acknowledging the participation of potential future parties, representatives from international organizations and bodies, and “relevant stakeholders.” Meeting the ambitious objective will require meaningful pathways for full and active engagement of all participants, not just States. Therefore, it is essential to examine how non-State actors typically engage in negotiations, what guidance the mandate offers for groups that include Indigenous Peoples and waste pickers, and the specific considerations that should be employed to further stakeholder participation. Towards a Global Treaty to End Plastic Pollution: Ensuring Meaningful and Effective Stakeholder Involvement in the Intergovernmental Environmental Negotiations focuses on the legal aspects of public participation by examining the rules governing previous intergovernmental negotiation processes and lessons that can be extrapolated from the negotiations and operation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs). It examines provisions in the negotiating mandate and ways to strengthen procedures for public participation during negotiations, concluding with recommendations for States and international institutions.
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Trade
Trade Provisions in Multilateral Environmental Agreements: Key Elements for Consideration in the Context of a Treaty to End Plastic Pollution
Plastics trade is an essential component of discussions to develop an international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution. Accordingly, trade provisions must be included in the future plastics treaty. “Non-Party Trade Provisions in Multilateral Environmental Agreements” examines how trade has been incorporated into other MEAs and provides lessons for plastics.
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Non-Party Trade Provisions in Multilateral Environmental Agreements: Key Elements for Consideration in the Context of a Treaty to End Plastic Pollution
It is common for Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) to include so-called non-party provisions. These provisions typically set out how a party to a treaty should interact with ‘non-party’ States, promote the ratification of the agreement and deal with the specific challenges presented by non-parties. Our brief “Non-Party Trade Provisions in Multilateral Environmental Agreements: Key Elements for Consideration in the Context of a Treaty to End Plastic Pollution” provides an introduction to trade provisions involving non-parties in the context of the future treaty to end plastic pollution.
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WTO Rules and Key Elements for Consideration in the Context of a Treaty to End Plastic Pollution
Trade is an essential aspect of the plastic crisis that led to the adoption of a mandate to develop an international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution. Plastic feedstocks, polymers, additives, plastic pellets, plastic products, and waste are largely traded internationally and the liberalization of trade in those products supports the rise in production and consumption of plastics, accelerating the plastic crisis. Additionally, trade in plastics acts as a conveyor belt for plastic pollution, including micro- and nanoplastic pollution around the world. The need to address the trade-related aspects of plastic pollution has been recognized by WTO members of the Dialogue on Plastic Pollution at the WTO. The Dialogue on Plastic Pollution has incorporated the reduction of plastics trade as one of its main work streams. This brief examines the question of consistency or compatibility of the incoming plastics treaty with WTO rules, with the understanding that the treaty negotiation process is still very much ongoing. It also provides key recommendations for future framing of the plastic treaty’s terms to address the essential interlinkages between plastic pollution and international trade in advance of INC-2. The brief was produced in collaboration with IUCN and CIEL.