By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
South Africa will seek to secure a legally binding global plastics pollution and marine litter treaty in negotiations at upcoming global meetings.
The country’s position was shared at a stakeholder engagement meeting that included Plastics South Africa, the International Alliance of Waste Pickers, the South African Local Government Association (Salga) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions.
Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Bernice Swarts, on Wednesday, addressed a virtual consultative stakeholder meeting on South Africa’s negotiating position ahead of the 5th Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) on the International Legally Binding Instrument on Plastic Pollution, including in the Marine Environment.
INC-5 is scheduled to take place in Busan, Republic of Korea, from 24 November – 1 December 2024.
The negotiators from national governments will need to reach agreement on a number of important topics including the model by which the internationally legally binding instrument (ILBI) will enable countries to tackle plastics waste.
Swarts explained South Africa’s position to support 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 manufacturing, use, and disposal in the context of the National Waste Management Strategy, 2020, “Swarts said.
“So, as we move forward, it will be necessary to establish certain principles to guide our negotiations on this matter. All our decisions must be based on the best available science and what this science tells us about the impact of certain products on our environment, the deputy minister said.
Accordingly, South Africa has focused on three aspects that include supporting and strengthening municipal waste management services to prevent plastic leaking into the environment.
South Africa is considered to have the highest plastic waste generation rate in Africa, producing 28kg of waste a year per person, compared to 16kg a year per person for the rest of the continent.
In addition, the country contributes about 35% of the plastic pollution leaking into the marine environment in southern and east Africa, an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) study found.
The Deputy Minister also emphasised the need to be open and transparent in sharing information about the chemicals used in plastic production, given the various applications of plastics in food contact applications.
“This new international legally binding instrument will likely result in the need for new regulatory controls on a domestic level. 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-5 provides a key platform for broader conversations on the variety of options linked to several obligatory measures that have been proposed,” Swarts said.