Dharmesh Shah Profile picture
Feb 26 18 tweets 5 min read
A thread on the ongoing UNEA 5.2 negotiations on a new treaty on plastic pollution.
@lifeindia2016
@brkfreeplastic
@GAIAnoburn
On the table, draft resolutions proposed by Rwanda-Peru, Japan and India. 1/n
In order to streamline discussions, facilators from Ghana-Canada merged the text from Rwanda-Peru and Japan into a single document called the co-facilitator text - as they co-facilitate the discussions on plastics in cluster 1 of working group-1 2/n
…which is entrusted with the task of reaching an agreement on the key elements such as:

1. An international “legally binding” agreement on plastic pollution 3/n
2 To address pollution caused by plastics throughout its whole life-cycle as opposed to just the end-of-life ie; marine environment
3 To form an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) tasked with developing the final treaty text over the next 2-3 years. 4/n
India introduced a draft resolution on the 28th January seeking urgent voluntary action on plastic pollution. India argued that a legally binding treaty will take time and a resolution with voluntary commitments could be activated immediately. 5/n
This was opposed by a majority of the countries who were of the opinion that the global plastics crisis is at a stage that required countries to go beyond voluntary actions. The member countries could not reach a consensus on the issue. 6/n
Countries were also divided on the use of the word “marine” in the draft txt. Members who wanted to retain the term argued plastics were a crisis of leakage into the marine envt due to mis-management. As long as we fix collection systems, plastics would not cause any problems.7/n
Countries that proposed to remove the term marine argued that plastics were a problem in all environments and its impacts need to be tackled throughout its life-cycle ie; stage of oil extraction, petrochemical processing/production, consumer use and final disposal. 8/n
This would also call on countries to arrest the unsustainable production of plastics. If these issues are ironed out by the week beginning 28th when the UNEA 5.2 officially kicks off, then the world will have taken the first step towards a historic mandate. 9/n
This, of course, is just the first stage in humanity’s long journey towards a single-use plastic free society. 10/n
Observations: Treaty negotiations are all about the nuances of the English language. English is the dominant language and it can be an extremely alienating space for non-english speakers. 11/n
The bickering over the use of verbs like “shall” and “should” could span over several hours. Observers can only envy the patience of negotiators who gracefully deploy terms like “excellency” and “distinguished” to refer to each other at 3am in the morning. 12/n
COVID has had a direct impact on accessibility of spaces. UNEA is no exception. COVID restrictions left civil society delegations clamouring for entry badges - only 45 were available for 300 delegates. 13/n
Add to that the constant threat of being expelled by short tempered country delegates who might take offence to constructive interventions made by civil society members if they go against the grain of the discussions. 14/n
That said, there is much to celebrate as the treaty discussion itself is acknowledgement of the planetary nature of the plastic crisis. 15/n
In a historic first, the role of the informal sector in waste management systems was also recognised @wiegoglobal @hasirudala @swachh @chintanindia 16/n
The biz sector that is usually united in opposition to any envtl issue that infringes on profits is surprisingly split in its position with public facing brands like Nestle, Unilever, L’oreal etc., for a binding treaty… 17/n
Whereas petrochemical manufacturers represented by groups like the American Chemistry Council against it.

Watch this space for more updates. Photo courtesy @IISb and @kiaraworth

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