Press Release
December 02, 2024
- Water & Soil
Outline of the 5th Session of Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to Develop an International Legally Binding Instrument on Plastic Pollution, Including in the Marine Environment
The 5th session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC5), took place from November 25 to December 1, 2024, in Busan, the Republic of Korea. The outline of the session is shown below.
The session was registered by approximately 3,800 participants from 177 UN Member States, relevant international organizations, and NGOs. The government delegation from Japan consisted of officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mr. NAKAMURA Kazuhiko, Director-General / Assistant Minister, and others), the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Mr. TAJIRI Takahiro, Deputy Director-General for GX Policy, and others), the Ministry of the Environment ( MATSUZAWA Yutaka, Vice-Minister for Global Environmental Affairs, OGAWA Masako, Deputy Director-General, the Global Environment Bureau, and others), and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
The session was registered by approximately 3,800 participants from 177 UN Member States, relevant international organizations, and NGOs. The government delegation from Japan consisted of officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mr. NAKAMURA Kazuhiko, Director-General / Assistant Minister, and others), the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Mr. TAJIRI Takahiro, Deputy Director-General for GX Policy, and others), the Ministry of the Environment ( MATSUZAWA Yutaka, Vice-Minister for Global Environmental Affairs, OGAWA Masako, Deputy Director-General, the Global Environment Bureau, and others), and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
■Outline of the session
(1) The United Nations Environment Assembly resolution adopted in 2022 calls for the completion of work on an international legally binding instrument on plastics pollution by the end of 2024, and vigorous negotiations were held at the INC5 session.
(2) At this INC5, negotiations were held on the draft text of the entire instrument, from the preamble to the final provisions, using the Non-Paper drafted and proposed by the INC Chair and referring to the compilation of draft text prepared at INC4. On November 29, based on the previous discussions, the Chair again proposed a draft text, and further negotiations were held.
In this process,
(3) As a result, on December 1, the last day of the session, the INC Chair again proposed a draft text based on the previous discussions, but no agreement was reached. It was therefore decided to hold a resumed session to continue negotiations, and it was confirmed that the Chair's draft text would be the “starting point” for negotiations at the resumed session, and that the entire draft text would remain subject to negotiations.
(4) Japan, at this session, was actively involved in the negotiations of the instrument, pointing out the importance of the following:
- Promotion of measures throughout the full lifecycle of plastics,
- Clarification of common criteria for plastic products and chemical substances used in plastic products,
- Promotion of plastic resource circularity in each country,
- Promotion of environmentally sound product design and reduce, reuse, and recycle,
- Obligations of each country for sound waste management (including Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system),
- Developing, updating, reporting and reviewing National Action Plans,
- Resource mobilization from all sources.
Japan also stated that it would continue to actively contribute to the negotiations at the resumed session.
Moreover, Mr. ONO Hiroshi, Senior Advisor to the Minister of the Environment, Japan, hosted regular regional meetings during the session as the Bureau (Vice-Chair) of the Asia-Pacific region.
(2) At this INC5, negotiations were held on the draft text of the entire instrument, from the preamble to the final provisions, using the Non-Paper drafted and proposed by the INC Chair and referring to the compilation of draft text prepared at INC4. On November 29, based on the previous discussions, the Chair again proposed a draft text, and further negotiations were held.
In this process,
- Progress was made toward the finalization of the draft texts through textual negotiations on objectives (Article 1), product design (Article 5), release and leakage (Article 7), waste management (Article 8), existing plastic pollution (Article 9), just transition (Article 10), implementation and compliance (Article 13), and national action plans (Article 14) .
- On the other hand, there was no consensus on plastic products (Article 3), supply (Article 6), finance (Article 11), etc., due to the large divergence in opinions among the countries.
(3) As a result, on December 1, the last day of the session, the INC Chair again proposed a draft text based on the previous discussions, but no agreement was reached. It was therefore decided to hold a resumed session to continue negotiations, and it was confirmed that the Chair's draft text would be the “starting point” for negotiations at the resumed session, and that the entire draft text would remain subject to negotiations.
(4) Japan, at this session, was actively involved in the negotiations of the instrument, pointing out the importance of the following:
- Promotion of measures throughout the full lifecycle of plastics,
- Clarification of common criteria for plastic products and chemical substances used in plastic products,
- Promotion of plastic resource circularity in each country,
- Promotion of environmentally sound product design and reduce, reuse, and recycle,
- Obligations of each country for sound waste management (including Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system),
- Developing, updating, reporting and reviewing National Action Plans,
- Resource mobilization from all sources.
Japan also stated that it would continue to actively contribute to the negotiations at the resumed session.
Moreover, Mr. ONO Hiroshi, Senior Advisor to the Minister of the Environment, Japan, hosted regular regional meetings during the session as the Bureau (Vice-Chair) of the Asia-Pacific region.
[Reference 1] Outline of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to Develop an International Legally Binding Instrument on Plastic Pollution, Including in the Marine Environment (INC)
In March 2022, at the resumed 5th session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2), a resolution entitled “End plastic pollution: Towards an international legally binding instrument” was adopted, and the establishment of INC was decided.
The INC consisting of five sessions from November 2022 to the end of 2024, aims to complete its work on developing an international instrument. Prior to INC5, INC1 took place in Uruguay in November 2022, INC2 in France in May 2023, INC3 in Kenya in November 2023 and INC4 in Canada in April 2024.
The INC consisting of five sessions from November 2022 to the end of 2024, aims to complete its work on developing an international instrument. Prior to INC5, INC1 took place in Uruguay in November 2022, INC2 in France in May 2023, INC3 in Kenya in November 2023 and INC4 in Canada in April 2024.
[Reference 2] Bureaus (Vice-Chairs)
At the INC, ten Bureaus (Vice-Chairs) in total are elected from the following regions: Asia-Pacific States, African States, Latin American and Caribbean States, Western European and Other States, Eastern European States, and Small-Island Developing States, and serve roles including the operation of the Committee together with the Chair. From Japan, ONO Hiroshi, Senior Advisor to the Minister of the Environment, serves as the Bureau (Vice-Chair) of the Asia-Pacific region.