25 April 2024, Ottawa Canada - An international legally binding instrument to address plastic pollution should reflect a comprehensive approach across the full lifecycle of plastics, respect national circumstances, and be accompanied by accessible financial package with sufficient implementation resources.
These are the key asks from the Kingdom of Tonga as Pacific delegations engage with more than 2,000 officials from all over the world at the fourth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC-4) in Ottawa, Canada.
For the Kingdom of Tonga, plastic pollution is a significant challenge, inflicting damage to the environment, food sources, impacting livelihoods and wellbeing.
In a statement submitted for the main plenary of INC-4, the Kingdom of Tonga welcomed the revised draft text of the instrument, which is under the microscope in Ottawa from 23-29 April 2024. The statement was to be delivered by Mr Sione ‘Akaau‘ola, the Chief Executive Officer for the Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change and Communications.
“Tackling plastic pollution through a comprehensive approach across the full lifecycle of plastics, while taking into account national circumstances and capacities, where necessary, should be reflected throughout this instrument,” the statement reads.
Plastic pollution is a growing global crisis.
UNEP’s From Pollution to Solution report shows that some 400 million tonnes of plastic is produced annually, and 7 billion tonnes of all plastic manufactured between 1950 and 2017 has become waste. The equivalent of a garbage truck of plastic is dumped into the ocean every minute, threatening biodiversity and damaging marine ecosystems.
Communities in Tonga, like all Pacific communities, are unfairly placed at the forefront of the impacts of the crisis, despite having a minimal contribution to global statistics.
At the ongoing INC-4, Tonga reiterates that it remains committed to progressively address issues in relation to plastic pollution. One of the ways it is doing this domestically is the work to phase out of single-use plastics, with the soon adopted Tonga National Roadmap.
The roadmap will provide a clear pathway for targeted actions to achieve a cleaner environment and improve environmentally sound waste management.
Tonga also called on INC-4 to explore linkages and lessons from other existing international legally binding instruments to mainstream efforts to address plastic pollution effectively and efficiently.
The Kingdom of Tonga is amongst delegations from 14 Pacific countries advocating their national and regional priorities at the ongoing INC-4.
A full life-cycle approach to plastic is a way of thinking that considers the impacts of all the stages of a product or service’s life cycle.
This approach helps people recognise how their choices are part of a wider and interconnected system.
The fourth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment is taking place in Ottawa, Canada, from 23-29 April 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-4