Global Plastics Treaty: 97 States endorsed the Nice wake up call

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The Nice wake up call for an ambitious plastics treaty
We, the Ministers and representatives from the majority of the INC members, from various regions and levels of development, reaffirm our common ambition to end plastic pollution to protect human health and the environment from its adverse effects, based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full lifecycle of plastics, as mandated by UNEA resolution 5/14.
We are heartened by the constructive engagement of the majority of Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) Members to conclude an effective treaty that is urgently needed, acknowledging the scale of socioeconomic challenges that ending plastic pollution may represent for certain Parties.
While all elements of the draft treaty text are important, we believe that the following five points are key to reach an agreement that is commensurate with what science tells us and our citizens are calling for:
Reaffirming that the full lifecycle of plastics includes the production and consumption stages, we recognize that addressing the increasing and unsustainable levels of production and consumption of plastics is essential and represents one of the most efficient and cost-effective approaches to achieving the objective to end plastic pollution. We therefore call for the adoption of a global target to reduce the production and consumption of primary plastic polymers to sustainable levels, to be regularly adjusted with a view of enhancing the level of ambition. We also call for an obligation for Parties to report on their production, imports and exports of primary plastic polymers, and to take measures across the full lifecycle of plastics to achieve the global target.
We call for a legally binding obligation to phase out the most problematic plastic products and chemicals of concern in plastic products including those most likely to cause harm or hinder circularity. We support a global list of plastic products and chemicals of concern therein, as well as a robust scientific approach for the COP to take decisions on new entries to this list whilst allowing for flexibilities that take into account specific national circumstances.
We emphasize the importance of a binding obligation to improve the design of plastic products and ensure they cause minimum environmental impact and safeguard human health in order, inter alia, to reduce the use of primary raw materials and chemicals of concern in plastic products while increasing the use of recycled content, and to improve their recyclability and reusability, in pursuit of circular economy approaches.
We recognize the need for effective means of implementation and accessible, new and additional financing, noting the special circumstances of least developed countries and small island developing states. We underscore the need to mobilize the necessary resources from all sources, public and private, domestic and international, in a way that ensures the achievement of the objectives and provisions of the treaty and guided by the polluter-pays principle. We call for the establishment of a financial mechanism that is commensurate with the ambition of the treaty and supports its efficient implementation.
We call for an effective and ambitious treaty that can evolve over time and is responsive to changes in emerging evidence and knowledge. To this end, the treaty should provide for the possibility of decision-making, through regular UN procedures if all efforts to reach consensus have been exhausted.
A treaty that lacks these elements, only relies on voluntary measures or does not address the full lifecycle of plastics will not be effective to deal with the challenge of plastic pollution.
We therefore call on all INC members to seize this historic opportunity to conclude an ambitious, universal and effective treaty at INC-5.2 that demonstrates our collective resolve to end plastic pollution for the benefit of present and future generations and our planet.