Members of 16 environmental organizations stage a human sign performance forming the words "end plastic" at Haeundae Beach in Busan, Sunday, ahead of the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5), which will begin Monday. Yonhap
The fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5), which will kick off in Busan on Monday and run through Dec. 1, is attracting keen attention from around the world as to whether participating nations can reach a legally binding international treaty on plastic pollution, according to government officials, Sunday.
Attention focuses particularly on whether these negotiations will set targets to reduce plastic production and set a timeline for achieving them, they said.
According to the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the INC-5 aims to finalize a legally binding international agreement by the end of this year to combat worsening plastic pollution. The effort follows a resolution adopted by member states at the fifth United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) held in May 2022. So far, four sessions have taken place in Uruguay, France, Kenya and Canada.
The two major issues that will be the focus at the INC-5 are whether to prioritize the regulation of plastic production or promote reuse and whether to specify a target year for international plastic agreements.
The key issue in the debate over production regulation is whether to impose limits on the production of primary polymers, which are raw materials used to make plastics extracted from fossil fuels.
Advocates, including the European Union and the High Ambition Coalition (HAC) — a group of 67 countries including Korea and Japan — are calling for reductions in plastic production, emphasizing the need to address the issue at the polymer production stage.
They claim that it is difficult to address plastic pollution with the current passive measures, such as managing consumption, distribution and waste recycling.
In contrast, the Global Coalition for Plastic Sustainability (GCPS), which includes six nations such as Saudi Arabia, China and Russia, along with unofficial supporters like India and Brazil, opposes production cuts. They argue for focusing on waste management and recycling, calling for the exclusion of primary polymer production regulation from the agreement.
Approximately 3,500 participants, including government delegations from 170 U.N. member states, representatives from 31 international organizations and other stakeholders, are expected to attend the INC-5.
The meeting will be presided by Luis Vayas, Ecuador's ambassador to the United Kingdom, and the final outcomes of the negotiations will be approved at a plenary session on Dec. 1.
Korea's delegation includes Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul as chief representative and Environment Minister Kim Wan-seop as the alternate chief representative. Officials from the ministries of foreign affairs, environment, trade, industry and energy and oceans and fisheries will also take part in the meeting.
Recognizing the seriousness of plastic pollution, the government emphasized the need for an agreement that addresses the entire cycle of plastics — from production and consumption to disposal and recycling — pledging that it will actively contribute to concluding negotiations.
However, due to significant differences in positions between plastic producers and consumer countries, the outcome may be a "framework convention" that outlines broad principles rather than a specific, detailed agreement.
There are also divisions on whether the agreement should be legally binding, the scope of its regulations and the drafting process. Some argue that it should focus on high-level commitments, with more specific details to be developed at a later stage.