HAC Member States Ministerial Joint Statement for INC-5

We, the 66 Ministers of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, reaffirm our common ambition to protect human health and the environment from the severe effects of plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, through the development of an international legally binding instrument (hereafter the treaty) based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full life cycle of plastics, as called for in UNEA Resolution 5/14.

We reiterate our strong and united commitment to finalizing negotiations on an ambitious and effective treaty at the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) in Busan in November 2024.

We are heartened by the constructive contributions of the vast majority of INC members to the negotiations and urge all members to step up our collective efforts to meet the world’s expectations. We reiterate our commitment to working with all Members to establish and extend areas of common understanding and convergence, with the understanding that vested interests should not restrain our collective responsibility to meet the world’s expectations, so that we can conclude the effective, ambitious treaty required to achieve our common goal of ending plastic pollution.

We reaffirm our common ambition of ending plastic pollution by 2040 and recall the common priorities we have clearly stated in our previous Ministerial Joint Statements, emphasizing the need for a treaty that is based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full life cycle of plastics, including design, production, consumption, and end of life.

We emphasize that effective and common legally-binding global rules are essential to address the negative economic, social, cultural, and environmental impacts of plastic pollution in all countries, in particular in developing countries and especially in Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States. We underline that such global rules are vital to make progress on the transformation to a sustainable and more circular economy, support just transitions, provide a global level playing field for business, and avoid unnecessary economic costs, with positive benefits for sustainable development in all countries, including in regard to health, job creation, innovation and economic growth.

We highlight the importance of ambitious and effective means of implementation to tackle the challenges many developing countries may face in implementing the treaty, including Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States, recognize the need for timely, accessible, predictable and adequate financing for recipient countries, and underline the need to mobilize the necessary resources from all sources, public and private, domestic and international.

We emphasize the principle that polluters should be held responsible for their activities and products, recognizing that economic tools appropriate to national circumstances are part of the solution, including extended producer responsibility schemes and an end to harmful incentives such as subsidies that work against efforts to end plastic pollution.

We commit to forging an agreement with common, legally-binding measures and encourage all INC members to find agreement on goals as well as on measurable and time-bound targets to ensure we are on a clear path to ending plastic pollution, including on reducing production and consumption of primary plastic polymers to sustainable levels, on sustainable product design and safe circularity of plastic products, and on environmentally sound management of plastic waste as well as, where necessary and feasible, sustainable remediation of plastic pollution.

We welcome the call from a broad and diverse range of INC members for global criteria and measures including for phasing out or restricting certain problematic and avoidable plastic products, polymers and chemicals of concern in plastics and plastic products, as well as for global product design criteria and requirements, in order to protect human health and the environment, increase safe circularity and transparency, and minimize emissions and releases of plastics, including microplastics.

We underline the need for mechanisms to thoroughly assess, review, further develop, amend and strengthen the treaty over time to ensure that its obligations and measures are adequate to end plastic pollution by 2040, and that the governing body can swiftly respond to new evidence and emerging threats to human health, food chains, and the environment from plastic pollution. This includes mechanisms for adding, amending and supplementing annexes; binding transparency and reporting requirements, including on plastic polymer production and chemical composition; mechanisms to assess implementation and progress achieved toward time-bound targets and other commitments; and guidance from the governing body on treaty implementation and technical recommendations based on scientific evidence, the knowledges, sciences and practices of Indigenous Peoples, and local knowledge systems.

We are convinced that the Committee will be able to agree on all essential aspects and key provisions by the end of INC-5, and we emphasize that ensuring that the treaty is effective, responsive and relevant over time will require a governing body that seeks to make its decisions by consensus but is able to adopt decisions by majority based on best practices in other multilateral environmental agreements and established practice in the United Nations.

We stress the importance of timely signature and ratification of the treaty with the ambition of its rapid entry into force. We further underline the importance of taking early measures consistent with treaty provisions and of swiftly implementing all treaty obligations to meet our ambition of ending plastic pollution by 2040.

We applaud the extraordinary efforts of leaders in parliaments, governments on all levels of jurisdiction, businesses, civil society, scientists, coastal and local communities, Indigenous Peoples, women, youth, and workers in formal and informal sectors including waste pickers who are raising the alarm about plastic pollution and calling on governments to finalize an effective and ambitious treaty this year. We encourage everyone to continue their efforts, hold governments to account, and mobilize further action. We take seriously our responsibility as governments to heed their call for action.

As we approach INC-5, we call on all INC members to seize this historic opportunity to conclude an ambitious and effective treaty that demonstrates our collective resolve to end plastic pollution for the benefit of current and future generations.

Find here a copy of the Ministerial Joint Statement for INC-5 with list of the 66 Members of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution supporting the Joint Ministerial Statement for INC-5.