The first session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to develop a legally binding international instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, was held in Punta del Este, Uruguay, from 28 November to 2 December 2022, and was organized in a combination of online and offline formats. BCRC China Executive Director Li Jinhui (Professor, School of Environment, Tsinghua University) and Assistant Director Zhao Nana participated in the meeting on-site as members of the Chinese delegation, while Tan Quanyin, Chief of the General Office of BCRC China, and Chen Yuan, Chief of the Regional Chemicals Management Branch, participated in the meeting online as members of the delegation. BCRC China Deputy Director Shan Guijuan, Project Manager Hao Shoushuo, and Technical Assistants Wei Fan, Lin Weiyu, and Wang Yawei participated online as observers. BCRC China also guided three undergraduate students from Tsinghua University School of Environment, Shen Liling, Chen Yuhao and Xu Yue, to participate in the conference. The conference was held in response to Resolution 5/14 entitled ‘Ending Plastic Pollution: Towards an International Legally Binding Instrument’ adopted by the Fifth United Nations Environment Assembly, with more than 2,300 delegates from more than 160 countries, international organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) participating in the conference.

The meeting mainly discussed the organizational arrangement of INC and the content elements of international instruments. The conference first determined the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee and eight officers, and basically adopted the rules of procedure of the INC. At the meeting, countries published their vision for an international instrument on plastic pollution, and held preliminary discussions on elements such as the scope, objectives, structure, core obligations, control measures, voluntary approaches, national action plans, monitoring reports, and capacity building, technology transfer and financial mechanisms to support the implementation of the instrument. Views were exchanged on possible final provisions of the instrument and on follow-up arrangements for the work of the Commission. After five days of consultation, the parties basically reached a consensus that the international instrument will protect human health and the environment as the goal, through the whole life cycle approach to plastic pollution, and scheduled to hold the second INC meeting in Paris, France, on May 22, 2023.

From November 26 to 27, the conference organized a multi-stakeholder forum and a regional consultation in advance, inviting representatives of enterprises, industry associations, research institutions, and non-governmental organizations to express their views on plastic pollution control, and representatives of regional countries agreed on the content of regional statements. The Meeting also established two informal groups, which held in-depth discussions on the potential elements of an international instrument and the modalities for the participation of non-governmental stakeholders in the instrument development process, respectively, and agreed on documents to be prepared by the Secretariat during the intersessional period, but were unable to reach consensus on the precise modalities for stakeholder participation.

In the preparation and negotiation process of the Conference, BCRC China participants provided strong technical support to the Chinese delegation on sub-topics such as the scope of the instrument, plastic life cycle management measures, chemical additives, plastic substitution, microplastics, extended producer responsibility system, national action plans and monitoring reports, and played an important role in the conference and panel negotiations. We have actively defended our various rights and interests in the negotiations.

The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) is an AD hoc body convened by the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and composed of government delegations from member countries to negotiate the text of an MEA and submit it to the Conference of Plenipotentiaries for signature and entry into force.

 

 赴现场参会的中国代表团成员合影