BY OJO SAMSON AYOMIDE
The fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC-4), is scheduled to take place from 23 to 29 April 2024 at the Shaw Center in Ottawa, Canada.
The session will be preceded by regional consultations on 21 April 2024 at the same venue.
INC-4 will be held in person and a live stream of the plenary meetings will be provided on UN Web TV – links will be made available prior to the meeting on the INC-4 webpage.
The advance copy of the revised draft text of the international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment has been made public. The document will be made available in all six UN languages on the INC website six weeks before the session.
The international negotiation process has just passed its midway point. At the third session (INC-3) in November 2023, Members discussed the Chair’s Zero Draft and found a way forward on issues not discussed yet. INC-4 will take these negotiations forward. The report of the INC on the work of its third session is now available here.
Background on the INC
In February 2022, at the resumed fifth session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2), a historic resolution 5/14 was adopted to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. The instrument is to be based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full life cycle of plastic. The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee began its work during the second half of 2022, with the ambition of completing its work by the end of 2024.
Three INC sessions preceded the upcoming INC-4. INC-1 was held on 28 November – 2 December 2022 in Punta del Este, Uruguay, while INC-2 took place from 29 May to 2 June 2023 in Paris, France and INC-3 took place in Nairobi, Kenya from 13 to 19 November 2023.
Two upcoming INC sessions are scheduled to be held this year.
The INC-4 will take place from 23 to 29 April 2024 at the Shaw Center in Ottawa, Canada, and the INC-5 from 25 November to 1 December 2024 in Busan, Republic of Korea.
