Negotiations for an ambitious global agreement to combat plastic pollution are well under way after the fourth round of talks in Canada, the head of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Inger Andersen, said on Tuesday.
"The work, however, is far from over," she said on Tuesday. "The plastic pollution crisis continues to engulf the world and we have just a few months left before the end of year deadline agreed upon in 2022."
During the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on the agreement, the more than 2,500 delegates discussed emissions, waste management and problematic or avoidable plastics.
Some 9.2 billion tons of plastic have been produced since the 1950s - roughly equivalent to the weight of 910,000 Eiffel Towers, according to UN figures. The overwhelming majority is not biodegradable and eventually ends up as waste in landfill sites or in the ocean.
The next round of negotiations, known as INC-5, is scheduled for November in Busan, South Korea.
"We came to Ottawa to advance the text and with the hope that Members would agree on the inter-sessional work required to make even greater progress ahead of INC-5. We leave Ottawa having achieved both goals and a clear path to landing an ambitious deal in Busan ahead of us," Andersen said.
Negotiating Committee Executive Secretary Jyoti Mathur-Filipp spoke of commitment and a willingness to compromise. "This is more than a process – it is the fulfilment of your commitment to saving future generations from the global scourge of plastic pollution."
The Group of Seven (G7) leading Western industrialized nations also backs the plastics agreement, a German minister said.
"As industrialized countries, we have a special obligation to curb the effects of the massive pollution crisis. As G7 countries, we are committed to reducing global plastic production and consumption," German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke said at the meeting of the G7 climate, energy and environment ministers in Italy.
The G7 also wants to rapidly ratify the UN Convention on the Protection of the High Seas.
"We depend on healthy oceans to combat the climate crisis, the pollution crisis and the crisis of species extinction. The UN Convention on the Protection of the High Seas BBNJ [Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction] is the first set of rules to protect biodiversity in the world's oceans," Lemke said.
Protected areas on the high seas need to be designated quickly in order to place 30% of the world's oceans under strict protection, she said.
"Here in Turin, we as the G7 are making a clear commitment to the agreement and pledging to ratify it quickly by June 2025. The agreement can only enter into force once 60 states have ratified it," said Lemke.
She also welcomed the establishment of the G7 Water Coalition. "We need common strategies and goals to protect our global water resources. Last year's UN Water Conference created unprecedented political momentum in the water sector. We want to use this together to advance integrated water management globally," said Lemke.
At their meeting on the outskirts of Turin on Monday, the ministers already agreed to phase out coal by 2035.
Italy currently holds the G7 presidency. The G7 is a forum of the heads of state and government of seven major industrialized nations: Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada and the United States. The European Union is also represented at the G7's meetings.