Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) On Plastic Pollution:
The fourth session of the INC to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC-4), opened in Canada’s capital, Ottawa.
- The resolution requested the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) to convene an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to develop “the instrument,” which is to be based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full life cycle of plastic, including its production, design, and disposal.
- The objective of the global plastics treaty is to set a global framework of standards around accountability, responsibilities, financing, material/chemical standards, import/export restrictions, targets.
- An INC meets five times to develop the specific content of the new ILBI by the end of 2024.
- The first session of the INC (INC-1) took place in Punta del Este, Uruguay, from 28 November to 2 December 2022, followed by a second session (INC-2) from 29 May to 2 June 2023 in Paris, France, and a third session (INC-3) from 13 to 19 November 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya.
- INC-5, scheduled for 25 November to 1 December 2024 in Busan, Republic of Korea, is intended as the end of the INC process.
