At the end of May, 124 countries met in Dakar, Senegal, at an Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) in advance of the negotiations for a new global treaty on plastics. Parties convened to discuss Rules of Procedure for the negotiations, nominate a bureau to set the agenda for and facilitate future meetings, and discuss the program of work for the two-year process. The meeting was mandated by United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) Resolution 5/14: End plastic pollution: towards an international legally binding instrument, which established a working group to organize the work ahead of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC). Later this year, the INC will start negotiating the full text of the new plastics treaty.
While the OEWG was not a negotiation of treaty substance or provisions, the outcomes set the stage for those discussions to take place at the INC meetings over the next two years. Rules of Procedure were specified and mostly agreed, and countries outlined a list of documents for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Secretariat to prepare to ensure a base level of understanding for delegates before the first INC.
Participation of Stakeholders Protected in Rules of Procedure
Parties at the OEWG agreed upon draft Rules of Procedure for the negotiations, which were forwarded to the INC. In one of the rules, Parties agreed on a process that allows non-government stakeholders to participate in the negotiation process. Though the proposal is not final until the INC formally adopts these rules of procedure, this provision is a very important development, as it ensures that non-governmental organizations have the ability to participate in the negotiations. NGOs play a critical role in negotiation processes by providing expert perspectives and analyses that are key to the effectiveness of treaty outcomes.
It is now the INC Secretariat’s responsibility to ensure that the groups mentioned in the mandate set by the UNEA resolution — workers in informal and cooperative settings and Indigenous Peoples — are able to participate in the treaty negotiations. This includes offering an open and inclusive accreditation process, as well as providing adequate funding to participate.
At the end of OEWG, delegates took the floor one after another to call attention to the fact that the Secretariat has been asked to specifically guarantee informal workers’ and waste pickers’ participation in the INC, and to reflect this in the meeting report. Other delegations specified that this report should also include Indigenous Peoples, women and girls, and youth. We hope that this broad support for participation of key stakeholders will be taken forward into the negotiations and urge the Secretariat to fulfill the mandate from UNEA to ensure the “widest and most effective participation possible.”
Side Events Highlighted Human Health and the Need for Upstream Solutions
During the meeting’s Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue series, panelists from around the world talked about key issues to address in this negotiation process. Speakers emphasized the need to focus on upstream solutions, incorporate youth voices in negotiations of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), and rethink our consumption models, which are contributing to the triple planetary crisis.
The International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), along with the governments of Senegal, Switzerland, and Uruguay, organized a technical briefing on Health, Chemicals, Plastics, and a Non-Toxic Circular Economy. The panelists spoke about the health and environmental impacts of toxic chemicals, underscoring the fact that any effective treaty on plastics must address chemicals and toxic additives.
Moving Forward Into the Negotiations
The first INC will convene in late November, starting with the adoption of the Rules of Procedure and the nominations to the INC Bureau, and then moving to substantive negotiations of the treaty. The negotiations will last until the end of 2024, likely with five meetings in total.
Before the first INC, the Secretariat of UNEP will produce documents requested during the OEWG. The documents, such as a glossary of key terms, an overview of plastics science (including science on chemicals used in manufacturing and health impacts), and an overview of information to “promote cooperation and coordination” with other instruments, will be key to provide delegates with the information they need to come prepared to the negotiations.
During the OEWG, delegations relied heavily on previously agreed text of the Minamata Convention on Mercury to draft the Rules of Procedure for the future negotiations. But, as delegates pointed out, plastic pollution is a very different economic and environmental issue than mercury, affecting countries in broader ways with widely varying impacts among stakeholders. Therefore, the solutions will need to be more wide-ranging, comprehensive, and global than those offered by the Minamata Convention. One step to this end has been to provide a designated seat on the INC Bureau for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) (in addition to two seats for each of the five UN regions), recognizing the particular impact of plastic pollution on SIDS.
The next few months will require a bit of waiting while the Secretariat gets to work on the requested documents and the timetable for the years ahead. CIEL and partners will be preparing for negotiations, providing input to the Secretariat, ensuring that all stakeholders are able to participate fully, and that countries are able to negotiate a treaty that will end plastic pollution, protect human and environmental health, and guarantee that human rights are respected across the planet.
Published August 8, 2022.