The INC-4 is the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee of the United Nations General Assembly in charge of the plastics treaty. There’s a plastics treaty? Apparently!
The INC-4 is meeting now until May 1 in Ottawa, CA. This is the 4th of 5 sessions to hammer out a treaty, but thus far the participating countries have failed to reach their goals. The planned goal of INC-5 is to, “ finalise an instrument that will end plastic pollution, once and for all.”
But here’s a fun fact about the conference this year: Fossil fuel lobbyists outnumber participants. Here is some analysis from the Center for Environmental Law:
196 lobbyists for the fossil fuel and chemical industry registered for the plastics treaty talks, a 37% increase from the 143 lobbyists registered at INC-3.
Fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists outnumber the combined 180 representatives of the European Union delegations.
The total number of fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists registered is three times greater than the 58 independent scientists from the Scientists’ Coalition for An Effective Plastic Treaty and seven times greater than the 28 representatives of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus.
The fossil fuel and chemical industry registered more representatives than the smallest 87 country delegations combined.
The Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) collectively registered 73 representatives, meaning they are outnumbered more than two to one compared to the fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists.
I will keep you posted on the outcomes!
Let’s build that bridge,
Rebecca