Latest news with #INC-5
Daily News Egypt
3 days ago
- Politics
- Daily News Egypt
Egypt's Environment Minister participates in UN Ocean Conference in France
Egypt's Minister of Environment, Yasmine Fouad, has arrived in Nice to attend the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), where she will represent President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi at the high-level opening session. Taking place from June 9 to 13, the conference gathers government leaders, international financial institutions, scientists, NGOs, civil society, and private sector stakeholders to address the world's most pressing ocean-related challenges. Fouad stated that this year's conference will center on three core objectives: protecting marine biodiversity, preserving global fish stocks, and advancing the '30×30' target under the Global Biodiversity Framework—which aims to conserve 30% of the world's oceans and coastal areas by 2030. The event will also assess global progress on Sustainable Development Goal 14, which promotes the conservation and sustainable use of marine resources. Plastic pollution is expected to dominate discussions, especially in the context of negotiations toward a binding global treaty. Fouad highlighted the importance of aligning national positions ahead of the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5), scheduled for August 2025 in Geneva. As part of her agenda, Fouad will chair the high-level opening session of an event marking two major regional milestones: the 50th anniversary of the Mediterranean Action Plan and the 30th anniversary of the Barcelona Convention. The gathering will bring together environment and biodiversity ministers, as well as UN officials, to announce national pledges and coordinated strategies to confront the region's triple threat of climate change, biodiversity loss, and plastic pollution. She is also slated to participate in multiple side events, including a ministerial consultation on the proposed global plastic pollution treaty. Key discussion areas include sustainable production and consumption, chemical safety, product design, and financing mechanisms. Another key session on her schedule is titled 'Scaling Up Solutions for a Plastic-Free Mediterranean,' which will explore innovative approaches to tracking plastic waste and building stronger regional and international partnerships.
Reuters
03-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
UN sets date for extra session to finalize plastics treaty
WASHINGTON, March 3 (Reuters) - The United Nations Environment Programme on Monday said a new round of negotiations toward a global plastics treaty will take place from August 5 to 14 in Geneva, Switzerland, after countries failed to agree on the parameters of a final agreement last December in Busan, South Korea. The fifth U.N. Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) meeting intended to yield a legally binding global treaty in Busan was meant to be the final one, but countries remained far apart on the basic scope of a treaty and could agree only to postpone key decisions to the new session that will be dubbed INC 5.2. The most divisive issues that prevented a final deal in Busan included capping plastic production, managing plastic products and chemicals of concern, and financing to help developing countries implement the treaty. More than 100 countries backed a treaty draft that would have created a path for a global plastic production reduction target, while a competing proposal backed by oil and petrochemical-producing states omitted production caps. Achieving agreement could face more headwinds when countries reconvene in Switzerland under a geopolitical landscape that has been transformed by strained diplomacy. The U.S. under President Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris climate agreement. Washington under Trump also cut off financing to other countries for programs to fight climate change, and has begun implementing tariffs on countries including allies like Canada and Mexico. The EU has shown signs of weakening some of its climate-focused policies, such as giving automakers more time to comply with new emissions targets, relaxing sustainability reporting requirements and widening exemptions for its border carbon levy. The last round of UN climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan showed that climate cooperation was already fraying, with countries managing to agree on $300 billion a year global finance target that was panned by several countries like India.
