Negotiations Stalled Until Final Day of Plastic Treaty... Foreign and Environment Ministers Head to Busan

Plan to Attempt Agreement Settlement

Foreign Minister Tae-yeol and Environment Minister Kim Wan-seop visited the negotiation venue for the international agreement to end plastic pollution on the 1st, with the government announcing that they will strive to ensure the agreement is finalized as the host country.

Yonhap News

Minister Cho, the chief representative of the government delegation, and Minister Kim, the new chief representative, visited BEXCO in Busan, where negotiations are underway, in the afternoon to meet with Chair Luis Bayas Valdivieso and Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), among others.

Minister Cho met with delegations from the European Union (EU) and China, while Minister Kim met with the Saudi Arabian delegation, an oil-producing country strongly opposing regulations on plastic production, to coordinate final positions to ensure the agreement is finalized.

Minister Cho is scheduled to attend the final plenary session of the 5th Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee at 5 p.m.

According to foreign media, the 5th Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on the Plastic Treaty, held at BEXCO in Busan since the 25th of last month, has yet to reach an agreement on whether to include provisions limiting 'plastic production' in the treaty.

On the 29th of last month, Chair Luis Bayas Valdivieso, leading the negotiating committee, presented a 4th draft proposal containing two options: one to include a clause in the treaty stating that the first Conference of the Parties after the treaty's conclusion will adopt an annex setting a global goal to reduce primary plastic polymer production to sustainable levels, and another to exclude any provisions related to production limits from the treaty.

Primary plastic polymers are plastic raw materials extracted from fossil fuels. Currently, 99% of plastics in use are made from primary plastic polymers.

On the same day, Luis Bayas Valdivieso, Chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC), presented a 5th draft proposal, a type of negotiation document.

Regarding plastic production limits, two main options were proposed: setting a global goal at the first Conference of the Parties after the treaty is concluded, or not including any production limit provisions in the treaty at all.

Additionally, concerning the goal-setting option, choices remain on whether to specify the goal as an 'aspirational' goal, which could imply difficulty in achievement, and whether the target should be 'plastic' in general or specifically 'plastic polymers (raw materials)'.

While Saudi Arabia opposes mandatory measures and insists on keeping the provisions at a 'recommendation' level, it is reported that South Korea has proposed a compromise.