Busan, Republic of Korea — The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) reinforced its leadership in global environmental efforts by participating in the Fifth Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5), held in Busan, Republic of Korea, from November 25 to December 1, 2024.
The United Nations Environment Assembly, in Resolution 5/14, requested the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program to convene an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, comprised of delegates from member states and civil society observers, to develop and adopt an international legally binding instrument on plastics pollution, including in the marine environment, based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full life cycle of plastic. The work was to be completed at the end of 2024.
The contentious issues were on: a) whether to include production, which the FSM and many other ambitious countries see as the heart of the treaty and the source of more than 90% of the rising greenhouse gas emissions from plastics; b) whether to address chemicals of concern, which are what make plastics so dangerous to the health of people and so threatening to FSM’s fisheries-based economy; and, c) how to support developing countries’ implementation of the treaty, including whether to establish a dedicated fund that the FSM has been calling for since before INC-2 in Paris.
The long hours of difficult negotiations to streamline ideas and bridge gap between countries’ positions lasted until the early morning of December 1, 2024 without reaching agreement on a new treaty to end plastic pollution. Delegates agreed to suspend the negotiation session and reconvene in 2025. While the original goal of finalizing a treaty at this session was not achieved, several significant advancements were made, including:
- Proposals by over 100 countries to adopt “a global target to reduce the production of primary plastic polymers to sustainable levels,” as called for in the Bridge to Busan: Declaration on Primary Plastic Polymers, launched by the Federated States of Micronesia at INC-4 in Ottawa in April.
- A Declaration on Plastic Products and Chemicals of Concern, developed and read by Mexico in the closing plenary, on behalf of 99 supporting countries, including the FSM.
- The “Stand Up for Ambition” statement read by Rwanda in the closing plenary. This was supported in advance by 85 countries, including the FSM, and later by many more who joined in a standing ovation for the statement during the closing plenary.
These are all now available on the Bridge to Busan website: www.bridgetobusan.com
The FSM delegation was led by Honorable Andrew Yatilman, Secretary of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Emergency Management. Additionally, Secretary. Yatilman undertook important bilateral ministerial level engagements with France and the Republic of Korea, as well as participated in high-level meetings of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, of which the FSM is a member, and which helped to coordinate the three highlights noted above. Secretary Yatilman was also widely quoted on the international press (see, e.g., https://www.barrons.com/…/showdown-looms-on-plastic…), having highlighted the climate, food security, public health and economic threats that plastic pollution and the greenhouse gases emitted from producing plastics impose on the FSM.
The FSM delegation included T.H. Andrew Yatilman, Secretary of the Department of Environment, Climate Change, and Emergency Management; Mrs. Cynthia Ehmes, Assistant Secretary for Environment; Mr. Iven Yaropiy, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multilateral Affairs; Ms. Darla Yatilman, Program Manager; and legal advisors Mr. Clement Mulalap and Mr. Dennis Clare.
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