Daily Recap from November 27, 2024: Day 3 of INC-5

“Stocktake” Plenary: Ambitious Countries Sound the Alarm on Lack of Progress, Bad Faith Actors

Today’s plenary was meant to take stock of the progress made in the four contact groups, with prepared statements from the co-chairs of each contact group. What ensued was a flare-up of tensions that had been simmering for days, and one could even argue since the early INC’s. Countries lamented how talks have stalled in contact groups, and the more ambitious countries openly stated their frustrations at the small number of Member States who they claim are negotiating in bad faith. From previous plenaries and INC’s, it is safe to assume that they are referring to the petro-states calling themselves the “like-minded group.” Many emphasized the rapidly vanishing time to clinch a strong treaty, and the urgency of the crisis the treaty process seeks to solve.?

One particularly strong intervention came from Juan Carlos Monterrey of Panama:

“For our colleagues that argue that production is not part of the mandate, let me correct the record. Production is part of the full life cycle of plastic… Every time that we hesitate in these negotiations, every time that we soften our ambition, more plastic seeps into earth, and into us... Plastic pollution is not just a crisis, it is an assault on our planet, our people, and our future. And yet here we are, tip-toeing around the truth. Sidestepping ambition and ignoring the urgency that demands action.”?

Other countries also spoke up. Mauricio Cabrera Leal of Colombia stated that,

“...a number of parties seem to be delaying discussions, and leading us down a path which will not enable us to reach constructive agreement. This disrupts the rhythm of our process but threatens to also dilute the efforts needed to face up to this crisis. At minimum, we believe that all participants should work in good faith.”?

Many countries spoke up about a breakdown in the treaty negotiations process, particularly given that Member States are proposing new language at any time of the day or night (see yesterday’s recap for details), instead of working with the existing paper from the chair, which was meant to streamline negotiations– as the deadline looms closer to clinch a treaty text, the options should be contracting, not expanding.??

Ghana’s Lydia Obenewa Essuah on behalf of the African Group of Negotiators had a sensible proposal to counteract this issue, and stood up for the participation of observers, which has been unconscionably limited:?

1) Have a deadline for text submission in each Contact Group

2) Give a mandate to the co-Chairs to combine text from all submissions based on the interventions in the room, when all avenues have been explored and produce a draft text for negotiations?

3) Adjust the size of rooms to accommodate member states and observers

Indigenous Peoples Take Back the Mic

This INC, civil society has been given very little access to the negotiations, and when we do gain entry into the room, industry-backed countries are given boundless airtime, while affected communities are forced to remain on the sidelines. It is customary for the Chair to provide time during plenary for civil society members to speak. However, this has not been the? case at this INC until the Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Plastics forced the issue tonight. The group rose to their feet with their fists in the air, demanding to the Chair that they be heard, and soon a crowd of civil society members gathered around them in solidarity.?

Instead of acknowledging the unique and important perspectives that rightsholders have in negotiations and allowing them to speak, the Chair invited Russia, Saudi Arabia and other like- minded countries to quibble about when text is delivered to the legal drafting group. Only Tuvalu used its time to implore the Chair to let the Indigenous Peoples speak.?

Finally the Chair caved to civil society pressure and gave the Indigenous Peoples Forum just a few minutes to speak. Lisa Bellanger, a representative of the Forum, stated,

“The global plastics treaty must recognize our rights and prioritize our voices and solutions to this crisis.… The treaty must actively promote Indigenous People’s contributions, providing a platform for our full and effective participation in decisionmaking and implementation of the treaty as rightsholders, not stakeholders… There is no recognition of the rights of Indigenous Peoples in this document, only references to our knowledge. We call on Member States to fully uphold the rights of Indigenous Peoples. A weak treaty is a failed treaty.”?

Ambitious Proposals on Finance and Production Reduction Gain Momentum

Some exciting proposals from Global South negotiating blocs have been gaining momentum in treaty negotiations. Yesterday, the African Group of Negotiators (AGN), Group of Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC), Fiji, the Cook Islands, and Micronesia released a Conference Room Paper calling for a new dedicated fund to implement the plastics treaty, with funding provided primarily from developed countries whose corporations have profited most from the plastics crisis. (For more information about financial mechanisms, see our policy brief.)?

100+ countries supported the African Group finance proposal to be taken as a basis of negotiations in Contact Group 3, however there is a clear division emerging between developed/donor countries, who are advocating for more private sector funding, utilizing existing funding structures like the GEF, providing funds in the form of loans, and making donor contributions voluntary, and developing/recipient countries, who want a dedicated fund to provide adequate public financing.? (see financial mechanisms section of our press kit for details).?

Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) called for a global target of 40 per cent reduction by 2040, compared to 2025 levels, and 45 African countries also called for production reduction, as well as stringent measures on accountability and reporting.

A Post-Plastic Economy: Reuse Models in Asia

At the convention center where the plastics treaty negotiations are taking place, co-convenors of the Asia Reuse Consortium—GAIA Asia Pacific, DietPlastik Indonesia, and Break Free From Plastic— hosted an event to release a comprehensive report entitled, ‘Unpacking Reuse in Asia,’ which underscores pioneering efforts across the region and offers scalable solutions to address the global plastics crisis. As negotiations for the plastics treaty continue, the report underscores the urgent need for treaty provisions that address the full lifecycle of plastics while centering reuse solutions as critical components to phaseout plastics which is critical to address plastic pollution.

Industry Infiltration

Excerpt from Center for International Environmental Law press release:?

A new analysis from the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) — supported by International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Plastics (IIPFP), the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), the Break Free From Plastic movement, the Global Alliance for Incinerators Alternatives (GAIA), Greenpeace,? the Stop Tobacco Pollution Alliance (STPA), the Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty, and the Uproot Plastics Coalition (Korea) — and based on the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) provisional list of INC-5 participants, finds that:

• 220 fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists are registered to attend INC-5, the highest at any negotiation for the plastics treaty so far analyzed by CIEL, more than the previous high of 196 lobbyists identified at INC-4.
• Fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists taken together would be the largest single delegation at INC-5, significantly outnumbering the host Republic of Korea’s 140 representatives. Lobbyists also outnumber the delegations from the European Union and all of its Member States combined (191) as well as the 89 representatives from Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) more than two to one and 165 delegates from the whole Latin American and Caribbean region (GRULAC), respectively.
• 16 lobbyists were identified in national delegations, including those from China, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Finland, Iran, Kazakhstan, and Malaysia.
• Dow (5) and ExxonMobil (4) were among the best-represented fossil fuel and chemical companies with numerous lobbyists attending the talks.
• Chemical and fossil fuel industry lobbyists outnumber the Scientists’ Coalition for An Effective Plastic Treaty by three to one, and the Indigenous Peoples’ Caucus by almost nine to one.

Plastic Credits Discredited?

As plastic credits continues to be promoted both within the negotiations space and on the periphery, GAIA and Break Free From Plastic has released a 2-page policy brief laying out the latest academic research and investigative reporting showing how plastic offsets and credits will not tackle plastic pollution or channel finance to where it is most needed in a stable, long term and reliable way.

Resources:

• Preliminary schedule for November 28
• GAIA Press Kit
• GAIA INC-5 Booklet (policy briefings and recommendations)
• Videos of strong interventions at plenary?
• Data on fossil fuel lobbyists at INC-5
• Financial Mechanisms Policy Brief
• Plastic Credits Policy Brief
• Unpacking Reuse in Asia report
• GAIA Asia Pacific Newsroom
• GAIA Africa Recap

Press contact:

Claire Arkin

[email protected] | +1 973 444 4869

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GAIA is a worldwide alliance of more than 1,000 grassroots groups, non-governmental organizations, and individuals in over 90 countries. With our work we aim to catalyze a global shift towards environmental justice by strengthening grassroots social movements that advance solutions to waste and pollution. We envision a just, zero waste world built on respect for ecological limits and community rights, where people are free from the burden of toxic pollution, and resources are sustainably conserved, not burned or dumped.?