INC-4: Delegates set for negotiation on legally binding instrument on plastic pollution

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), will 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.

Three thematic side events will be held on the margins of INC-4 on Wednesday 24 and Thursday 25 April 2024 at the session’s venue: Plastic pollution in the marine environment; approaches to capacity building, financing and financial mechanisms and enabling just transition.

For several years, plastic pollution has been a major issue raised at the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) and other global fora.

In March 2022, a historical resolution was adopted at the 5th session of the United Nations Environment Assembly – End plastic pollution: towards an international legally binding instrument (UNEA 5/14), recognizing that “the high and rapidly increasing levels of plastic pollution represent a serious environmental problem at a global scale, negatively impacting the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainable development”. It mandated the UN Environment Programme Executive Director to convene an International Negotiating Committee (INC) to develop and adopt a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full life cycle of plastics. This landmark decision thus launched the process towards a global plastics treaty, which should be developed by the end of 2024.