Day 1 of INC-5.2 We met the Chair!

Zara & Ashton present their petition to the INC Chair Ambassador Luis Vayas Valdivieso

The day before the start of the final round of Global Plastic Treaty negotiations here in Geneva at the UN Headquarter, Zara & Ashton delivered a speech at the official Observers Meeting. They had very supportive responses from both the Chair (pictured above) and Executive Director of UNEP Inger Andersen during the event. The next day Inger Andersen included a picture of their speech in her Instagram channel.

The Chair invited Zara & Ashton to meet him after the event, where they took the opportunity to hand-deliver to him their petition to reinsert language around 'subsidies' into the final treaty text. These next 10 days they will be taking his advice to speak with Member State delegations to inform them of the importance of this language in helping to wean the world off plastic (especially single-use which makes up 50% of all produced!) by helping alternative solutions to plastic become more affordable. This topic matters a LOT to the younger generation, who will be the ones implementing this treaty that will impact the world for decades to come.

Explaining the 'plastic subsidies' petition, and why it's important for supporting the alternative solutions to plastic.

Learn more about subsidies from Zara & Ashton's 'Plastic Subsidies 101' webinar that you can watch HERE.