The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) of the United Nations held its fifth session of negotiations in Busan, South Korea from Nov. 25 to Dec. 1.
Advocates went into the session hoping to finalize a legally binding international document on plastic pollution; instead, they’ll have to wade through another round of negotiations over the text of the document.
President of South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol, ahead of what proved to be an eventful week that saw him declare martial law and face severe backlash for it, expressed his hopes for a resolution on a treaty this round of negotiations.
“I sincerely hope that over the coming week all member states will stand together in solidarity – with a sense of responsibility for future generations – to open a new historic chapter by finalizing a treaty on plastic pollution,” Yeol said.
INC-5, as it is referred to, is the fifth installment in a series of negotiations dating back to INC-1 in November of 2022.
The next iteration of negotiations has yet to get a date or location, but it already looks to be more of an extension of the current round of negotiations rather than a new chapter altogether, as suggested by its name: INC-5.2.
The overall sentiment was a mixture of disappointment while acknowledging that the treaty being close to final is a step in the right direction. The Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit looking to keep plastic out of the ocean and an official U.N. observer organization, echoed this sentiment.
“We are disappointed that the finalization of the plastics treaty has been delayed,” said Ocean Conservancy’s Vice President of Conservation, Nicholas Mallos. “At the same time, Ocean Conservancy remains determined to use this extension as an opportunity to continue fighting for a strong and ambitious treaty that rises to the occasion and meets the plastic pollution crisis with the urgency it demands.”
It also acknowledged that INC-5.2 will likely occur under the new Trump administration but reiterated that keeping the oceans clean is a nonpartisan issue that it hopes will see progress regardless of the political party in office.
Recycling talking points
Why did such a seemingly agreeable issue — plastic pollution being a major issue — not reach a conclusion in its fifth round of negotiations? Like most things, the devil is in the details.
Everything from limits of plastic production — both quantity and types of plastic — to tackling waste has caused hurdles in the process of crafting the treaty.
While every country on the planet has some sort of relationship with plastic, some countries like China and the U.S. are more involved as producers, whereas other countries’ relationships have been marked by the end of plastic’s life, when it settles in to pollute natural resources.
Some feel it necessary to cut down on plastic production altogether and stop the problem at the source, while others advocate advances in recycling and recycling management — things that wouldn’t require production to slow.
Like anything, there are actors on each side with personal movies, and it remains to be seen which school of thought will be more dominant in a finished treaty.
One thing that is certain, though, is that this treaty is inevitable in some shape or form. According to the U.N. environmental programme, as a planet, we produce “about 400 million tonnes of plastic waste every year.” Moreover, “98 percent of single-use plastic products are produced from fossil fuel” — in other words, not from recycled, already-existing plastics.
Plastic pollution — whether dumped in landfills in less wealthy places or lost at sea, is shaping our lives. It has even begun forming its own feature in our waters with a collection of floating plastic that’s become known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Activists and environmentalists alike are hoping INC-5.2 will prove to be the decisive event that sees nations around the world agree on comprehensive goals to curb the trajectory of waste. Only time will tell what those goals will look like.
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