Third Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to Develop an International Legally Binding Instrument on Plastic Pollution
DEC. 4, 2023 — From November 13-19, 2023, over 1,900 participants—representing 161 governments as well as stakeholders from nongovernment organizations, academia, the private sector, the UN, and other international organizations—met in Nairobi, Kenya, for the third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC3) to continue negotiations towards a new international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution.
The chief goal of the meeting was to advance the development of text of the instrument, based on an initial draft (or ‘zero draft’) compiled in September 2023. During the meeting, the INC comprehensively reviewed this text and government representatives provided additional input and text submissions to the zero draft. This input will be captured in a ‘revised zero draft’ to be prepared by the INC secretariat by December 31, 2023, as the main output of the meeting. The INC was unable to reach consensus on any formal work to complete before the next session, but did agree to the dates and agenda for the INC4, to take place in April 2024 in Ottawa, Canada, to continue negotiations. Formal negotiations are scheduled to conclude following the INC5, scheduled for November 2024 in Busan, Republic of Korea.
The NOAA Marine Debris Program attended INC3 as part of the United States delegation, which was led by the Department of State.