UNEP Announcement Curtails Public Participation in Upcoming Plastics Treaty Negotiations

WASHINGTON, DC — Today’s announcement that UNEP will limit observer participation at the upcoming second intergovernmental negotiations committee to advance a plastics treaty (INC-2) was immediately met with objections from civil society organizations. 

Jane Patton, Plastics and Petrochemicals Campaign Manager at the Center for International Environmental Law, issued the following statement: 

“Observer participation is not optional, to be deprioritized if the room isn’t big enough: UNEP has repeatedly recognized the critical role that observers play in negotiations, and the very mandate for these negotiations calls for the ‘widest participation possible.’ The intention to restrict participation to one representative per organization flies in the face of the mandate and established best practice by severely curtailing observers’ ability to engage in the process. The physical capacity limits of the UNESCO building — the location chosen for the upcoming plastics treaty negotiations — were a known issue, and going over those limits for registered participants was foreseeable and preventable.  

“Advancing a strong and effective treaty demands that civil society organizations, scientific experts, rightsholders, workers, and people living along the frontlines of the plastics crisis can meaningfully participate throughout the process. We call on UNEP to immediately remedy the situation by providing overflow rooms with streaming and effective participation access and alternate arrangements for the hundreds of observers who are effectively shut out of the negotiation process. UNEP must take steps to kick the polluters responsible for the plastics crisis out of the room, and prioritize the voices of impacted communities in the negotiations. Furthermore, they should secure future negotiation locations that can accommodate the full count of delegates, stakeholders, and rightsholders needed to produce the best policy outcome possible.”

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Note for editors

Despite over 1,600 online and in-person participants at INC-1 in Punta del Este, Uruguay, UNEP decided to host INC-2 at the UNESCO World Headquarters, a venue with a maximum capacity of 1,500. Nearly 2,700 Member State delegates and observers are registered for the in-person-only negotiations. While observer organizations, including representatives from civil society organizations, Indigenous Peoples, workers and trade unions, scientists, and others, can each register five people, UNEP has announced that only one badge admitting access will be given to each organization.

Media Contact

Cate Bonacini, Communications Manager at the Center for International Environmental Law (press (at) ciel.org), +1-202-742-5847

Published May 16, 2023