Your excellency Mr. Luis Lacalle Pou, President of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay
Your excellency Mr. Nelson Adrián Peña Robaina, Minister of Environment, Uruguay
Executive Secretary of the INC Secretariat, Ms. Jyoti Mathur-Filipp
Excellencies, Ministers, Ambassadors, Friends, and Partners
My thanks to Uruguay for its generosity in hosting this, the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-1) to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution. My sincere gratitude to Mr. President. Your presence with us demonstrates the determination of Uruguay to remain a global environmental leader. I wish to also express my appreciation for their generous support to this process. It is wonderful to see so many participants close to 2,500, representing many countries and stakeholders. This is the future of multilateralism.
This meeting is sandwiched between the climate and biodiversity summits. This is a calendar issue, but it is also incredibly appropriate. Creating a circular plastics economy that ends plastic pollution is critical to the success of both the nature and climate agendas. It is critical to our success as a species.
Member States acknowledged this when they adopted the resolution at the United Nations Environment Assembly in March, Nairobi. Now, after the efforts of the open-ended working group to bring us here, we get to work.
At this meeting, there are several key aspects to focus on so we can meet the 2024 deadline. Obviously, we have UNEA Resolution 5/14 to use as the starting point. Now we need to set up the machinery to run the process, such as the bureau and rules of procedure. We need to share views and hear stakeholder voices. And we need clarity on the direction of the future instrument, including its scope, structure, and objectives. At this meeting, we are setting the stage to foster an innovative instrument by leaning into the future and learning from the past.
With what I am about to say, I am perhaps running the risk of sounding like a broken record, as you have heard much of this before. But as we are now getting into shaping the agreement, I feel it’s important to reiterate how we can build a successful instrument. So, please indulge me as I run through four areas of focus.
First, we must build an instrument broad enough and deep enough to cover the whole plastics problem, while also ensuring that all countries can participate.
There is a lot to unpack here. We must eliminate and substitute problematic and unnecessary plastic items. Ensure that plastic products are designed to be reusable or recyclable. Ensure that plastic products are circulated in practice, not just theory. Manage plastics that cannot be reused and make sure that we talk about reductions or alternatives along the production chain.
To get this done, the deal must cover the full life cycle: from considering different types of polymers and plastic products to developing safe and environmentally sound waste management. Crucially, we must ensure that these actions take into account the principles of a just transition so that nobody is left behind.
Secondly, be informed by science and work with stakeholders to build a new plastics economy.
Clearly the deal must lean heavily on science to identify hotspots for action, but plastic pollution is everywhere and affects everyone. It’s essential that negotiators listen to a diverse set of voices and consider the many ways in which plastics impacts different segments of society, whether in the Global North or the Global South. Essential that the deal listens to civil society organizations, academia, indigenous peoples, the informal sector, youth, trade unions as well as the private sector – and creates a deal that ensures everyone can contribute to its implementation.
So, we need to build on the interest of consumers to reduce plastic pollution. Ensure the integration of millions of workers in informal settings, such as waste pickers, into the new economy for plastics. Give industry a chance to innovate, to lean in and to commit and measure up against the targets you set.
I am pleased to see that there are different opportunities for all voices at INC-1, through the stakeholder forum that took place on November 26 and the dialogue on Tuesday afternoon. I urge everyone to use these opportunities to bring innovation and ambition to this process.
Third, let’s learn from other multilateral agreements, work with them and also innovate in the multilateral space
The Montreal Protocol, the Basel, Rotterdam, Stockholm and Minamata Conventions, and others beyond the environmental arena, all provide experiences to build on. But this agreement must also dovetail with agreements on oceans, biodiversity, climate change, health, and social issues. While learning from past agreements, we must also look towards innovations as we forge a new, networked, inclusive, dynamic environmental deal. Let us be informed by the past and innovate for the future.
Fourth, ensure adequate financial and technical assistance for developing countries
A key lesson from other agreements is that, for us to succeed is that while much action can be done at home through national policies and actions, developing countries will need support: with technology, with skills and, yes, with finance. This is important for many nations, but particularly for Small Island Developing States (SIDS). These states import plastics and lack waste management systems, but we also need to understand that much of the plastic arrives on their shores, uninvited. But, with support – including on building the skills of local repairers and recyclers – SIDS can create a localized circular plastics economy that reduces dependence on imports.
I know there is much to agree, and little time to agree it. But we are here with a common purpose and a common opportunity. Let’s be inclusive and address the concerns of all countries and stakeholders. Because each one of us has a role to play in enabling a just transition to a circular plastics economy.
We need to show the courage, to listen to each other and avoid pitching sectors and countries against each other. We need the courage to innovate. The courage to step out of our comfort zones. The courage to lean-in. The courage to embrace the future. This is how we will get this deal done. This is how we will end plastic pollution.
Thank you.
