Rarotonga, Cook Islands, 30 November 2023 - The Cook Islands joined the global community in Nairobi this month for the third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-3), to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution including in the marine environment.
The Cook Islands were represented at the INC-3 by Halatoa Fua, Tekura Moeka'a, and Roselyn Strickland of the National Environment Service (NES), and Teuru Passfield of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration (MFAI).
Despite contributing less than 1.3 percent to plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, Pacific Islands populations are disproportionately affected by the crisis of plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, with the Pacific Ocean being polluted by the bulk of the rest of the world's washed-away plastic.
The third session of the INC is the latest step of a journey that began in Uruguay last December with INC-1, and continued in Paris in May with INC-2 where a mandate was delivered for the INC Chair to prepare a Zero Draft that is being negotiated until an agreement is finalised.
During the negotiations, the Cook Islands worked through the text of the Zero Draft, with the Pacific Small Islands Developing States (PSIDS) negotiating effort at INC-3 shared between member countries, and the Cook Islands leading on a number of key issues.
The Cook Islands delivered PSIDS statements on items of the Zero Draft, including the Governing Body, Subsidiary Bodies and Secretariat, Preamble, Objective, Definitions, Principles and Scope, Problematic and avoidable plastic products, including short-lived and single-use plastic products, fishing gear provisions, and Trade in listed chemicals, polymers and products.
It is hoped that negotiations will result in an agreement that considers the full life-cycle of plastics, and ensures that ‘One Pacific Voice’ is heard, with the Cook Islands continuing to seek an ambitious and inclusive international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution.
The need for support towards the Pacific’s contribution to the development of the treaty was highlighted as one of the Pacific Partnerships for Prosperity (PPfPs), an initiative launched by Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders earlier this month during the Cook Islands’ Chaired 52nd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting (PIFLM52).
"The Cook Islands recognises the pressing need to end plastic pollution because we see it as a significant planetary crisis that impacts our ecosystems, biodiversity, the climate, and human health," said Director of NES, Halatoa Fua.
"Our message from the start of the INC-1 up until now remains the same, we call for a treaty that is firmly rooted in a human rights-based approach, and our research is supported by science, and one that honours the waste hierarchy and precautionary principle. We also call for a treaty that is responsive to the needs of the Cook Islands and our Pacific communities, who are adversely affected by this crisis."
The fourth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4) will be held in Ottawa, Canada, in April 2024, with INC-5 scheduled to take place in 2024 in the Republic of Korea.