Cook Islands Joins High Ambition Coalition Dialogue for Plastics Treaty Negotiations

The Cook Islands was represented by the NES Director Halatoa Fua, at a technical working session by the High Ambition Coalition (HAC) to End Plastic Pollution in Stockholm, Sweden earlier this month. The session is to prepare the 67-country member coalition for the fifth and final session of negotiations for the legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution, which will take place in Busan, Republic of Korea, in late November 2024.

Sweden’s Minister for Climate and the Environment, Hon. Romina Pourmokhtari, addressed the delegates with her opening remarks, reinforcing the need to have an effective plastic pollution treaty that addresses the full lifecycle of plastic products. Sweden currently holds the presidency for the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2024, as they lead the efforts as Nordic countries in the green transition and social sustainability.
The HAC session enabled participants to discuss common priorities and exchange views on key aspects of the second non-paper released by the INC-5, to try and reach an agreement in the final negotiations in Busan. 

The HAC focused discussions on key elements of the treaty like sustainable production levels, chemicals of concern, problematic and avoidable plastic products, and means of implementation to include finance, capacity building and knowledge transfer. The delegates also exchanged views on specific areas, like the process of nominating chemicals once the conference of the parties is established. Comparisons were drawn to other multilateral environmental agreements like the Minamata and Stockholm Conventions.

Halatoa Fua stated ‘the HAC working sessions are useful to build relationships with other countries with high ambition for the plastics treaty, to ensure the needs of the Cook Islands and small islands developing states are represented at the international stage. Plastic pollution has a detrimental effect on the marine environment, which impacts the Cook Islands and Pacific Islands severely. It is important that the special needs and circumstances of small islands developing states are reflected in the treaty text final agreement’.