The Kingdom of Tonga has called for the future plastics treaty to draw on lessons and linkages from existing legally binding instruments, like the Basel Convention, to effectively address the plastic pollution crisis.
The appeal was made during the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5), where representatives from 14 nations, including Tonga, are negotiating the development of an international legally binding instrument (ILBI) to end plastic pollution. The negotiations, convened under the mandate of the historic United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) Resolution 5/14, aim to finalise the treaty by the end of 2024.
Tonga emphasized that the future plastics treaty has the potential to complement and expand on the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, by adopting a more holistic and ambitious approach.
“The Basel Convention can continue to serve as the backbone for regulating the trade and responsible disposal of plastic waste,” said Ms. Mafileo Masi, Deputy Director of Tonga’s Department of Environment. “The plastics treaty can build on this foundation to address upstream issues, harmonize definitions and standards, and push for systemic change across the plastics value chain.”
Adopted in 1989, the Basel Convention focuses on regulating the transboundary movement of hazardous and other wastes to safeguard human health and the environment. In 2019, its scope was expanded to include plastic waste, tightening controls on the international trade of certain categories of plastics. The amendment was aimed at preventing countries with limited waste management systems from becoming dumping grounds.
Throughout the negotiations this week, countries have debated whether provisions in the Basel Convention relating to plastic waste were enough to curb plastic pollution. Pacific Island countries like Tonga have raised concerns about gaps in the convention.
According to Ms. Masi, while the Basel Convention addresses waste management, it does not address upstream challenges such as reducing plastic production or curbing the use of single-use plastics, which are key contributors to the crisis.
“The convention primarily focuses on waste and not upstream issues like production and reduction, so it fails to tackle the root causes of plastic pollution,” Ms. Masi said.
Joshua Sam, Hazardous Waste Management Adviser at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), echoed this sentiment, noting that the Basel Convention’s provisions were expanded in 2019 to include certain categories of plastic waste.
“This amendment tightened controls on the transboundary movement of plastic waste, particularly mixed and contaminated plastics, but does not specifically address single-use plastics or microplastics, leaving upstream challenges like reducing plastic production outside its scope,” said Mr Sam.
“The future plastics treaty and the Basel Convention can work in tandem. The plastics treaty can strengthen the waste management of plastics, while the Basel Convention is useful for parties that need to export waste, especially for countries in the Pacific that lack the capacity to dispose of plastics locally.”
Mr. Sam also highlighted implementation challenges within the Basel Convention, citing weak enforcement mechanisms and capacity challenges among parties such as Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
“While the convention mandates prior informed consent for the export of certain types of plastic waste, this process hasn’t always worked in practice,” he said. “Some countries have ended up as dumping grounds for plastic waste.”
He stressed the need for the plastics treaty to include strong, binding provisions for financial support and capacity-building, particularly for Pacific SIDS.
“Dedicated financial mechanisms are crucial to ensure that countries that are disproportionately affected by the crisis can effectively manage plastics waste. Without this support, we risk perpetuating inequities,” Mr. Sam added.
At the regional level, SPREP is the Secretariat to the Waigani Convention which entered into force in 2001. The Waigani Convention applies strict controls of the Basel Convention to the Pacific region preventing hazardous and radioactive waste entering the region or being dumped.
In October last year, the Conference of Parties to the Convention amended the treaty in line with the Basel Convention amendments. It introduced stricter controls on the international trade in plastic waste. Previously, many mixed and contaminated plastic wastes could be freely traded without the controls applied to other forms of hazardous waste. With the amendments, only clean, uncontaminated plastic waste that is ready for recycling can be traded without these controls.
The fifth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment is taking place in Busan, Republic of Korea, from 25 November to 1 December 2024.
The Pacific Islands are represented by the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu through the support of the Government of Australia and the United Nations.
They are supported by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), working with partners the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner (OPOC), The Pacific Community (SPC), Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL), University of Wollongong, WWF and Massey University.
For more information, visit: https://www.unep.org/inc-plastic-pollution/session-5