Your Excellency Mukhtar Babayev, COP29 President, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan,
Your Excellency Ambassador Luis Vayas, Chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on Plastic Pollution,
Executive Secretary of the INC, Mrs. Jyoti Mathur-Filipp,
Excellencies and friends.
The moment of truth is almost upon us. In just ten days, the world will gather in Busan, Republic of Korea, to begin the final round of negotiations on a legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution.
The world wants this deal. Because plastic pollution is causing huge harm to the natural systems on which we all depend. And it may well be harming people, as plastics loaded with chemicals increasingly enter our bloodstreams.
It is also fitting that we are discussing the instrument at the climate talks in Baku. If plastic production keeps growing as predicted, it will expend 20 per cent of the carbon budget for 1.5°C by 2040. This target of the Paris Agreement is already in deep trouble. Every sector that contributes to global heating must play its part. And plastic pollution makes it much harder to adapt to climate change, damaging ecosystem resilience and blocking drainage systems that are already struggling to cope with increasing floods.
Busan can and must mark the end of the negotiations, which began with the historic UNEA resolution over two years ago. A resolution that called for these negotiations to finalize an instrument that addresses the full life-cycle of plastics by the end of 2024.
So, we need an instrument that represents an ambitious starting point. That is grounded in science. That sets targets and defines solutions to achieve its objective. That delivers a just transition for all, including the 20 million waster pickers around the world.
We know specifically what this instrument must cover. Criteria for plastic products, including exiting unnecessary single-use and short-lived products. Design and performance for circularity. Managing end of life of plastic, including legacy plastics. Waste management. Extended producer responsibility. Sectoral approaches for implementation. Chemicals of concern in products. All of this must be backed by innovative financial mechanisms, mandatory reporting and evaluation, and dedicated programmes of work.
While we cannot predetermine the outcome, which lies in the hands of Member States, convergence is growing. Around promoting enhanced design and performance of plastic products and researching sustainable alternatives and non-plastic substitutes. Around management of plastic waste, including extended producer responsibility. Around a just transition, releases of pollutants and chemicals, addressing legacy pollution and more.
More convergence is needed on plastic products and chemicals of concern, sustainable consumption and production measures, and how to finance implementation.
The Chair will shortly present this Non-Paper 3 to you in more detail. But let me be clear, the Non-Paper represents our best chance to reach agreement in Busan. I urge you to give it your full support. And I call on all to ensure that the time available in Busan is used in an effective way, with a laser focus on our shared objective.
Excellencies, momentum is growing.
On the finance front, the UN Capital Development Fund, the UN Environment Programme, and the International Finance Corporation, yesterday announced a new collaboration to facilitate private sector investments through blended concessional finance. This will help to make solutions across the life cycle of plastics more likely to receive investment. We are hoping this will be an avenue that domestic finance institutions can tap into as well. I welcome other institutions who are thinking of finance solutions, such as WWF, to collaborate so we can together provide a coherent, trackable financing solution.
The Pact for the Future, G20 declarations and the INC intersessional process have increased optimism. There is growing public and political pressure for action. Waste pickers and civil society groups are fully engaged and offering solutions. Businesses are calling for global rules to guide the new reality. The finance sector is beginning to throw its weight behind solutions.
The world has spoken loud and clear. Everyone wants an end to plastic pollution. Now it is up to Member States to deliver.
