Opening Remarks by The Honourable Barbara Creecy, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, at the National Stakeholder Consultation Session on the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee third session (INC-3) on the development of the international legally binding instrument on curbing plastic pollution, to be held in Nairobi, Kenya
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Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.
It is my honour to deliver these opening remarks at our National Stakeholder Consultation session ahead of the third session of the the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-3) on the development of the international legally binding instrument on curbing plastic pollution, which is taking place on our beautiful continent, in Nairobi, Kenya this month.
I wish to thank all participants for attending this important meeting. We value your contributions on the formulation of South Africa’s negotiating position at INC-3.
INC-3 represents a milestone in global efforts to end plastic pollution, as the zero-draft text of the Convention would be under negotiation. This session takes place at a pivotal juncture because it is halfway to the envisioned implementation target, as the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) has set an ambitious timeline for the conclusion of the instrument by end of 2024.
INC-3 will serve as a platform to negotiate options of legally binding measures for ending plastic pollution by the global community.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Its important today to begin by reminding ourselves why our country supported the development of an internationally legally binding instrument to combat plastic pollution at the Fifth Session of the United Nations Environment Assembly in the first quarter of 2022.
At that time we, recognised the threat plastic pollution poses to human health, ecosystem functioning, and the marine environment. In signing up for this process we recognised our constitutionally imposed obligation to protect our environment and human health.
Consequently, on the domestic front we understand that this requires a wholistic approach that understands the full life-cycle of plastic manufacture, use, and disposal in the context of the National Waste Management Strategy, 2020. Accordingly, we have focused on three aspects:
- Supporting and strengthening municipal waste management services to prevent plastic leaking into the environment;
- Developing extended producer responsibility schemes to collect, reuse and recycle plastic waste with the aim of promoting a circular economy in the plastic industry;
- Promoting public awareness and clean up campaigns to remove plastic waste from rivers, wetlands, and beaches.
Today we can acknowledge that over the course of the past two years, these circular economy and EPR initiatives have resulted in the formation of 5 registered extended producer schemes that support plastic waste collection and recycling; this has removed of 368 600 tons of plastic waste from the environment; it has supported between 60 000 and 90 000 waste reclaimers; and it has promoted hundreds of public clean up and public education initiatives. In the retail and fast-food space many outlets have substituted single use plastics with bio-degradable products. We now have regulatory requirements for re-cyclate content in plastic and black bags.
In recognising the journey we have travelled so far we also acknowledge that on the domestic front we need have to do a great deal more to tackle plastic pollution. We must do this in the context of two important realities:
- The first is that South Africa has a significant plastics industry that sustains approximately sixty thousand formal jobs. Because of this we will ensure that as we approach the problem of plastic pollution and the measures necessary, we work in consultation with the plastics industry and organized labour.
- Secondly, we are a developing country and it is necessary that the Rio principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) as provided for in the founding UNEA 5/14 decision that mandates this INC work is upheld.
So, as we move forward, it will be necessary to establish certain principles to guide our negotiations on this matter.
- The first is that all our decisions must be based on the best available science and what this science is telling us about the impact of certain products on our environment.
- The second is there needs to be open and transparent sharing of information about the chemicals used in plastic production, given the various applications of plastics in food contact applications;
- The third is that this new international legally binding instrument will likely result in the need for new regulatory controls on a domestic level;
- The fourth issue is finance: should the international instrument lead to obligatory measures to curb plastic pollution, there will be a need for these measures to be supported by equally ambitious means of implementation. So developing countries will argue for a financial mechanism that would ensure predictable and adequate financial resources to assist in curbing plastic pollution in developing countries.
INC-3 provides a key platform for broader conversations on the variety of options linked to several obligatory measures that have been proposed. I look forward to our discussions today that fruitful discussions will enhance our position for INC-3 and support a people-centered just and equitable transition for ending plastic pollution.
I thank you.
