Invitation for comments on a draft report “Global governance of plastics and associated chemicals”

At its fifth session, the United Nations Environment Assembly adopted resolution 5/14 entitled “End plastic pollution: towards an international legally binding instrument”. In the resolution, the United Nations Assembly, requested the Executive Director to convene an intergovernmental negotiating committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, which could include both binding and voluntary approaches, based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full life cycle of plastic, with the ambition of completing its work by the end of 2024.

Thanks to the generous financial support from the Government of Norway, the Secretariat is undertaking a study to map the global governance landscape of plastics and associated chemicals, and to identify governance gaps and complementarities with existing multilateral instruments to provide possible considerations for the role of a new plastics instrument in addressing/regulating plastics and associated chemicals.

The draft report is open for comments until 10 January 2023.

Please kindly send your comments by email to: Ms. Kei Ohno Woodall (kei.ohno@un.org).

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Global governance of plastics and associated chemicals (Draft of November 2022)

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About the report

The report entitled “Global governance of plastics and associated chemicals” provides a mapping of the global governance landscape of plastics and associated chemicals, and identifies governance gaps and complementarities with existing multilateral instruments. This is intended to provide helpful guidance for the development of a new global instrument to end plastic pollution, as per UNEA Res. 5/14. The study complements the joint technical report on “Chemicals in Plastics” prepared by UNEP and the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions (UNEP/PP/INC.1/INF/7).

Contents of the report

The report outlines the full life cycle of plastics and associated chemicals recognizing the need to go beyond addressing plastics as waste to mitigate chemical hazards of plastics that pose a threat human health and the environment. The report highlights the need to define the term plastic pollution starting from chemicals and polymers of concern to address challenges identified across the life cycle of plastics.

The mapping of obligations specific to plastics and chemicals summarises complementarities and gaps within global binding multilateral instruments, in particular those addressing chemicals and wastes. The findings of the mapping have been used to outline opportunities for the new global plastics instrument to address the plastics life cycle, including strengthening governance based on globally agreed principles and approaches.

The report outlines potential mechanisms for closing the governance gaps across the full life cycle of plastics and associated chemicals. This includes (i) developing international sustainability criteria for plastics and associated chemicals, and (ii) identifying and addressing chemicals and polymers of concern.

Background and way forward

The report was commissioned by the BRS Secretariat with the financial support of Norway, and the study was led by the University of Wollongong, Australia. The report has benefitted from expert consultations, including the organization of the two international online workshops.

The report is in final draft mode and will be published in the run-up to the thirteenth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG-13) scheduled to take place in Geneva from 21 to 23 February 2023 and the second session of the intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC-2). Any comments to the final draft can be submitted to the Secretariat (kei.ohno@un.org) by 10 January 2023.

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