Vietnam actively participates in building the Global Agreement on plastic pollution

Attending the negotiation session, the Vietnamese Delegation including representatives of the Ministries: Natural Resources and Environment (Head of the Delegation), Foreign Affairs, Industry and Trade, Justice, Agriculture and Rural Development will join the participating countries in the discussion. Discuss contents related to the revised Draft No. 0 issued by the Negotiation Committee on December 28, 2023.

This is the negotiation session with the largest number of registered delegates ever with nearly 4,200 delegates from member countries, United Nations agencies, international organizations and businesses.

Unite the world around the common goal of ending plastic pollution

With the ambition to conclude the negotiation process by the end of 2024 in Busan, South Korea, the fourth negotiating session of the Global Agreement on Plastic Pollution began with many different expectations of the participating parties. According to information from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the official negotiation session began on April 23, 2024. Before that, on April 21 and 22, 2024, countries had related meetings. to prepare for the Official Session including meetings of National Groups by geographical region, Groups of countries with similar views, meetings organized by partners and international environmental organizations to share views related to the issue of plastic pollution and related contents in the current draft Agreement.

Speaking at the Opening Session, Mr. Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada affirmed: “Agreeing to a global agreement on plastic pollution by the end of 2024 will mark one of the most decisive The most important environmental agreement and will be the first agreement to unite the world around the common goal of ending plastic pollution. Canada has put in place a number of measures to stem the tide of domestic plastic pollution, and we look forward to maintaining momentum towards a global agreement that matches our ambitions. We welcome delegations, partners and stakeholders from around the world to Ottawa for INC-4 to continue the ambitious work needed to achieve this unified goal.”

The Minister of the INC-4 host country emphasized the need to prioritize the reduction and elimination of problematic and avoidable plastics to protect the circular economy, avoid negative impacts on the environment and cause harm to the environment. out the potential risks to human health, while emphasizing the importance of recognizing financial, technical and capacity needs and transparency in the Agreement to ensure consistency in implementation. exam.

Overview of the Conference Plenary Session (Photo: Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment)

Emphasizing the urgency of the negotiation process, Ms. Inger Anderson, Director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP): “While we are still hesitant, plastic pollution continues to affect ecosystems so INC-4 needs to show commitment, cooperation and ambition between countries, creating progress and is a premise for completing a legal document to end plastic pollution at INC-5.”

Developing countries contribute more to efforts to tackle plastic pollution on the principle of shared responsibility

At the Negotiation Session, the Director of UNEP reviewed the common points in the discussion process of the negotiation sessions related to eliminating problematic and unnecessary plastics, redesigning the system, plastic products, expanded responsibility of producers, new forms of financial financing, fair transition… At the same time, it was further emphasized that, last week, 160 financial institutions with total assets amounted to 15.5 trillion USD signed the Financing Declaration on Plastic Pollution.

Previously, at the event organized by host country Canada on April 22, 2024, Ms. Inger Anderson, Director of the United Nations Environment Program, presented 10 important points in achieving a Global Agreement by 2024 includes agreed targets with specific deadlines, elimination of single-use and problematic plastics, product design issues, and an established Extended Producer Responsibility program Building on guidelines and standards from successful countries, increase recycling by investing in environmentally friendly waste management and recycling technologies that meet environmentally appropriate standards. environment, addressing chemical concerns to ensure worker safety, reporting and transparency in enforcement, renewing private sector financing, ensuring transformation fair by ensuring livelihoods for those affected and finally calling for addressing plastic pollution to effectively collect and treat pollution.

At the Opening Session, the Group of Asia-Pacific countries also made a general statement about the Group’s views, discussed by countries at the group meeting from April 21, 2024. Although the group had difficulty finding a common voice due to many different views among member countries, it also had a common statement, which emphasized the differences in national contexts and capacities. differences and approaches to addressing plastic pollution condition the success of this Agreement.

The Asia-Pacific group of countries believes that appropriate, flexible, and appropriate measures follow the roadmap, while allowing enough transition time for countries and markets to adjust step by step. will bring success to this Agreement.

Representative of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam (seated 2nd, from left) participates in the Vietnamese negotiating team (Photo: Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment)

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Vietnamese delegation participated in the negotiation session with a world perspective focusing on the issue of solving plastic pollution, which emphasizes the role of plastic and plastic products in society. festival; the importance of the informal sector in addressing plastic pollution; the need for financial, technological and capacity-building support for developing countries to contribute more to efforts to address plastic pollution on the principle of common but differentiated responsibility and corresponding capacity of the nation, equitable transition, poverty reduction, intergenerational responsibility and for sustainable development.