Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley—joined by U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Peter Welch (D-VT), and U.S. Representative Jared Huffman (D-CA-02)—today sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory calling for the United States to use its influence to advance an ambitious agreement to combat plastic pollution at the upcoming Fifth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) in Busan, South Korea. The letter urges the U.S. to support a strong agreement to address the full life cycle of plastics, including limits on production, chemicals of concern, and problematic and avoidable uses of plastics.
“The majority of the world wants an ambitious agreement, and the U.S. should push for rules and procedures that enable robust collaboration and deliberation while ultimately allowing for a majority driven process in order to protect ambition on a meaningful timeline. It is more important to have the majority of countries join a strong agreement predicated on actionable and enforceable commitments, than to have every country join one that does not drive change,” wrote the lawmakers.
Merkley announced he is attending INC-5 to push for a strong global agreement to address plastic pollution. This follows the congressional delegation he led to INC-4 in April.
Full text of the letter can be found by clicking here and follows below:
Dear Secretary Blinken and Chair Mallory,
We urge you to use U.S. voice and influence to advance an ambitious agreement at the Fifth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) for a legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, that addresses all aspects of the plastic pollution crisis including plastic production, chemicals of concern and problematic and avoidable products. INC-5 is a singular opportunity for countries to set a pathway to achieve the shared goal of protecting our planet from the harms of plastics and we cannot let a lack of ambition derail it.
While the latest text from Chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso is a clearer basis for negotiations, it threatens to continue the “least common denominator” approach that is insufficient to address the scale and severity of the plastic pollution crisis. Of particular concern, the text lacks global targets for source reduction, a mandatory phase-out of the most harmful chemicals, and a mandatory phase-out of problematic plastic products and those that are easily avoidable. The final agreement must be significantly stronger than the Chair’s text if it is to have the requisite ambition to combat this crisis.
The majority of the world wants an ambitious agreement, and the U.S. should push for rules and procedures that enable robust collaboration and deliberation while ultimately allowing for a majority driven process in order to protect ambition on a meaningful timeline. It is more important to have the majority of countries join a strong agreement predicated on actionable and enforceable commitments, than to have every country join one that does not drive change.
We applaud the updated U.S. negotiating position that supports including provisions to address the full life cycle of plastics, including upstream production.1 The final agreement should have actionable and enforceable commitments that all parties must take, including lists of polymers, chemicals, and products for bans and phase- outs and time-bound targets for achieving them. We urge you to use your influence to advance these important provisions, even if some countries cannot be an initial party to the agreement.
INC-5 is an unprecedented opportunity for the world to come together to address the plastic pollution crisis and the climate crisis in tandem. We ask you to use U.S. influence to advance an ambitious agreement that includes real, enforceable commitments to reduce plastic production, phase out chemicals of concern and problematic and avoidable uses of plastics across the full life cycle.
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