NAIROBI, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- The negotiations for a legally binding international treaty to eliminate plastic waste that concluded in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, Sunday evening have borne some fruit, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) said Monday.
Kenya hosted the third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-3) which was tasked with coming up with a global treaty to end plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, from Nov. 13 to 19.
During the seven-day negotiations in Nairobi, delegates discussed the contents of the Zero Draft text, captured views from member states and elected a new chair of the INC, according to the UNEP.
Inger Andersen, the UNEP's executive director, said the Nairobi negotiations were encouraging, given the determination by delegates to fast-track the development of a legally binding global treaty to halt plastic pollution on terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
"I am encouraged by the forward motion of the negotiations towards a treaty that ends plastic pollution," Andersen said in a statement released in Nairobi. She urged INC members to raise their ambitions and become more innovative, bold and inclusive as they come up with legal interventions to hasten the realization of a plastic-free world.
The Nairobi meeting elected Luis Vayas Valdivieso of Ecuador as the next chair of the INC and agreed to hold the fourth session in Ottawa, Canada, in April 2024.
In addition, the fifth session of the INC for a global plastics treaty will be held in the Republic of Korea between November and December 2024, according to the UNEP.
The incoming chair of the INC, Luis Vayas Valdivieso, said it was imperative for stakeholders to pay attention to scientific evidence that points to the devastating impact of plastic waste on human and ecological health.
