(AGENPARL) – lun 13 novembre 2023 Statement
As prepared for delivery
Statement by Inger Andersen at the opening press conference of INC-3
An incisive treaty that ends plastic pollution
My thanks to the members of the press for covering these negotiations. We are here this week
because nations have decided to find a solution to plastic pollution, which poses a major threat
to people and planet, and promised to do something about it.
Right now, we are producing about 430 million metric tonnes of plastic a year and growing.
Much of this plastic, often full of harmful chemicals, ends up as pollution: in landfills, in the
ocean, in other ecosystems and in our bodies. And as plastic is produced from fossil fuels, if we
end up burning it as waste we cause significant climate impacts.
This is why, eighteen months ago, here in Nairobi, nations passed a historic resolution to
develop a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution that addresses the full life cycle of
plastic.
The life cycle element is crucial. The instrument is not just about improving recycling or about
waste management and clean ups. Rather, it’s about a complete rethink of how we use plastics.
We need to use fewer virgin materials and eliminate the unnecessary plastic, the kind of plastic
we used for five minutes but spends 500 years in landfill. We need to find alternatives, and
reuse and recycle resources more efficiently. We need to dispose safely of what is left over and
deal with the legacy of plastic pollution.
For this to succeed, the instrument must work for everybody. The deal must keep plastic
pollution out of nature, reduce the climate impact of plastic and deliver a just transition,
including decent jobs for communities such as waste-pickers. It must account for national
circumstances, and provide support for those nations that require it, which is part of the
negotiations. We encourage industry to lean in and be part of this change, to lead and innovate
and imagine what new products could look like. Of course, we need to incentivize industry on
non-plastic substitutes or alternatives and better use of plastic – which would create new,
sustainable and profitable markets.
These are some of the levers that negotiators have at hand. At this third round of negotiations,
we are looking for negotiators to advance the zero draft and hand a mandate to the Chair at the
end of this session to produce a next version for further negotiations in Ottawa next April.
When the resolution was passed last year, we hailed it as a triumph of the Nairobi Spirit. I have
every confidence that the spirit of cooperation, consensus and ambition will be maintained. We
need to see this spirit over the next days, so that negotiators can hone an incisive instrument
that will carve out a future free from plastic pollution.