Attending the workshop, on the side of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, there were representatives of the Department of International Cooperation, the Vietnam Administration of Seas and Islands, the Department of Environmental Pollution Control, representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security, representatives of the Norwegian Embassy, representatives of international organizations: UNDP, WWF, USAID ...; representatives of businesses and other organizations related to the field of production, use and recycling of plastic products.
Speaking at the workshop, Mr. Truong Duc Tri, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Administration of Seas and Islands, said that plastic waste pollution, including ocean plastic waste pollution, has become one of the three biggest global environmental challenges today.
Realizing that, the Vietnamese Government has paid special attention through international commitments and strong actions to contribute to the global effort to address this enormous challenge, towards a clean environment and sustainable development for future generations.
Vietnam's international commitments have been promptly specified by the Party and Government in directive documents and the system of policies and laws in recent times, typically: The Law on Environmental Protection 2020 has specified regulations and contents related to plastic waste management; Resolution No. 36-NQ/TW dated October 22, 2018 of the Central Executive Committee on the Strategy for sustainable development of Vietnam's marine economy has set a goal that by 2030, Vietnam will become a "pioneer in the region in reducing ocean plastic waste"; Decision No. 1746/QD-TTg dated December 4, 2019 of the Prime Minister on the National Action Plan on ocean plastic waste management has set a requirement to "Effectively implement Vietnam's initiatives and commitments to the international community on solving plastic waste issues, focusing on ocean plastic waste".
According to Mr. Truong Duc Tri, through the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Resolution 2022 on Ending Plastic Pollution, towards an internationally binding document, member countries have established an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to coordinate the negotiation process to build a Global Agreement. To date, two high-level negotiation sessions have been held, the third session will take place in November in Kenya.
The Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to be the standing agency for Vietnam’s negotiations on the Global Agreement. Currently, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has been actively participating in the negotiation sessions, regularly organizing conferences and seminars to exchange and discuss Vietnam’s negotiating viewpoints, together with other ministries, sectors and relevant agencies.
Continuing the series of activities organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, today's Workshop will introduce the main contents of Draft No. 0 of the Global Agreement drafted by the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to serve the upcoming 3rd Negotiation Session in Kenya.
“I hope that the delegates will actively exchange, discuss and give their opinions on the suitability of the objectives of the Draft with the objectives and orientations of Vietnam and with the international treaties to which Vietnam is a member. The Organizing Committee of the Workshop hopes to hear opinions from all relevant parties, especially Vietnamese plastics enterprises, which are expected to be affected, impacted and possibly benefit from Vietnam's participation in this Agreement,” Mr. Truong Duc Tri suggested.
Reporting at the Workshop, the representative of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said that before this Consultation Workshop took place, the Asia-Pacific Group (APG) had a meeting on the sidelines of the regional consultation on Draft No. 0 and reached a number of agreements such as: continuing to promote existing plastic waste management efforts such as national action plans, G20 initiatives as well as national strategies and roadmaps.
APG agreed on the importance of international cooperation and coordination in addressing plastic pollution as well as the sharing of information and data on plastics and plastic waste which plays an important role in the content of the Agreement; agreed on the need to consider the participation of informal collection systems, indigenous communities, women, youth;.....
At the Workshop, Dr. Michael Parsons, Policy Advisor of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, gave a presentation on “The Global Treaty on Plastic Pollution and Related International Legal Agreements” which provided very complete information on legally binding international agreements considered in Draft No. 0 such as: Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes (HWs) and Their Disposal (Basel Convention), Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade (Rotterdam Convention), Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) (Stockholm Convention), Minamata Convention on Mercury (Minamata Convention), Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity in Marine Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (also known as the High Seas Agreement), Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer as amended and revised, etc.
According to Dr. Michael Parsons, there are two main areas of concern in the first draft of the Global Plastics Pact and the international agreements mentioned above: chemicals in plastics (which have impacts on human health and the environment) and the trade in plastics products. Any concerns about overlap between the content of the Pact and the Conventions will be addressed by the ability to apply the scientific and technical expertise of the Pact to achieve practical and effective actions.
The representative of the Department of Pollution Control and Environment presented an overview of Vietnam's legal system on plastic waste management and the responsibilities of ministries and branches in plastic waste management. Specifically, the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP detailing a number of articles of the Law on Environmental Protection, especially Directive No. 33/CT-TTg of the Prime Minister on strengthening the management, reuse, recycling, treatment and reduction of plastic waste... have really created a change in the awareness and actions of the entire political and social system on strengthening waste management, in line with Vietnam's international commitments on reducing plastic waste and building a circular economy.
During the 2-day workshop, delegates will focus on exchanging and discussing preliminary assessments of the suitability between the objectives of Draft No. 0 and the objectives and orientations of the Vietnamese Government based on current documents; approaching the Global Agreement on Plastic Pollution based on international environmental treaties to which Vietnam is a member; Views of some regional organizations related to the negotiation of the Global Agreement on Plastic Pollution; Update on the status of global plastic use and pollution; Policies and regulations on plastic waste management in Vietnam; Assessing the feasibility of Vietnam joining the High Ambition Alliance (HAC)....
At the same time, representatives of Vietnamese plastics enterprises and a number of environmental organizations also contributed opinions and viewpoints so that the Government's negotiating delegation could have some more practical perspectives in preparation for the 3rd negotiation session of the Global Agreement on Plastic Pollution, which will take place in November 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya.
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