As prepared for delivery
Excellencies, colleagues,
Let me start by expressing by deep appreciation to Switzerland for the kind, generous and very literal warm welcome we have all received here in beautiful Geneva.
Also my thanks and appreciation to the Chair for his tireless efforts in Geneva to help the members advance. The Chair has shown courage and determination. I am deeply grateful to him and his team.
My thanks to the INC bureau, co-facilitators, co-chairs, informal facilitators and every delegate who stayed late and never stopped pushing to help move us forward.
My deep thanks to the negotiators who have, yet again, endured sleepless nights to try to find a landing ground. I remain incredibly grateful to you for your tireless efforts.
I also want to extend my sincere appreciation to the Ministers who have come to Geneva. Your presence here has been extremely meaningful and I ask for your continued push for multilateral solutions as together we work to end plastic pollution.
And to the many observers the scientists, waste pickers, Indigenous Peoples groups, business, youth, civil society I know this will not be the ending you had hoped for, and nor indeed the ending that we at UNEP have worked for. Expectations were high for this meeting, and I know that our collective efforts will not stop here. The impacts of plastic pollution will continue, and your voice, advocacy and continued engagement will continue to be needed.
To the media, here in Geneva, and watching from afar, thank you for following this process and continuing to raise awareness of the growing challenge of plastic pollution.
To all UNEP colleagues and, of course, to the many other staff from across the UN system including the UN team here at the Palais in Geneva my deep appreciation and thanks as always.
Friends,
This has been a hard-fought 10 days against the backdrop of geopolitical complexities, economic challenges and multilateral strains.
During this 5.2 session I have listened intently. And from all, I have heard about the diverse realities that your countries face in addressing the impacts of plastic pollution.
Despite these complexities, I have also heard all countries wanting to remain at the table. I believe that you have made important progress. You have gone deeper than ever before into all areas of the instrument. And despite the many views that we have heard in this plenary hall this morning, I personally believe that you have come closer to realizing the mandate that was given to you by the UN Environment Assembly.
Ultimately, I have heard from every country here in this room that you want to end plastic pollution. You want a deal.
Is it easy? No. But do countries want an end to the environmental, economic and health impacts of plastic pollution? Absolutely.
It is clear that divides remain regarding core issues on production, plastic products, finance and voting. The world needs more time to come to full agreement on these critical issues.
We at UNEP will continue, undeterred, to support Member States taking this most critical mandate forward. And we will in parallel continue to support countries to fight back against plastic pollution pollution in our groundwater, in our soil, in our rivers, in our oceans and yes, in our bodies.
Together, we can and will beat plastic pollution.
