Canada, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ghana and Germany jointly invite to the
Second Ministerial Conference on
Plastic Pollution including Marine Litter
28 October 2024
supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Informal consultations addressing the mandates of UNEA 5/14 and the proceedings of the 5th session of the Intergovernmental
Negotiating Committee as a follow-up of the Ministerial Conference in 2021 leading towards UNEA 5.2.
The Ministerial Conference is set in Cali, Colombia,
back-to-back with the 16th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties on Biological Diversity (COP16)
hosted by the Colombian government from 21 October to 1 November 2024.
The Global Plastics Treaty
The Global Plastics Treaty is a landmark international agreement currently being negotiated to address the growing crisis of plastic pollution worldwide, focusing on marine litter.
Negotiations have taken place in a series of four Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) meetings so far. INC-5, the final negotiation meeting, will take place in Busan, Republic of Korea in November 2024.
INC-5 will be a crucial meeting as negotiators work towards finalising the international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution. As the final scheduled INC session, INC-5 aims to:
- Complete negotiations on the legally binding instrument to address plastic pollution
- Finalise the text of the global plastics treaty
- Agree on implementation plans and next steps
The Ministerial Conference
For the second time, partners from around the world Canada, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Germany and Ghana invite to a conference on plastic pollution including marine litter to bring together ministers worldwide in preparation for the final round of negotiations this year.
The conference will build on the discussions of the INC ministerial consultation meeting, held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September 2024, which aimed to bring conversations up to the political level, deepening understanding of national priorities and positions on key negotiating issues, determining areas of convergence and divergence, and bridging existing gaps.
With a view to the upcoming INC-5 session, the conference provides an opportunity for a open-ended meeting in person for high-level participants to build further momentum and political will to advance a coherent global strategy to end plastic pollution thus ensuring a future with clean environment. The focus will be on most political issues in order to foster convergence and identify landing zones, not prejudicing the final round of negotiations of INC-5.
Plastic Pollution and Marine Litter
Plastic pollution, including marine litter, have long been in the global spotlight. Up to 57 million tonnes of plastic waste end up in the environment every year, and up to twelve million tons in the ocean where marine wildlife ingest or are entangled by plastic debris, causing injury and death. Plastic pollution also has negative impacts on food safety and quality, human health and tourism, and contributes to climate change. In spite of this, the flow of plastic into the environment continues, and is projected to nearly triple by 2040.