Gallifrey Foundation

With only a few hours left in the negotiations for a #PlasticsTreaty, we call on courageous delegations 🇵🇦 🇫🇯 🇷🇼 🇫🇷 to keep defending key ambitious provisions. #BeatPlasticPollution #BreakFreeFromPlastic #INC5

#INC5 – Day 6️⃣: Pacing up and down like caged lions Well folks, this is getting serious. We, Observers, have been locked out from negotiation rooms for TWO FULL DAYS now, and the closing plenary is TOMORROW. At what time? No clue. Bits and pieces of information we’re getting are changing all the time. Tomorrow (morning?), we should have a revised non-paper, the fifth, which will be the results of all the informal conversations the Chair has had with the Member States. What will be in it? No freaking clue again. We are biting our nails down to the quick. It is not normal that Observers are left out, when fossil fuel lobbyists – of some are part of national delegations, do I need to remind this – are in.   We’ve been going through almost two painful years of negotiations, with wins and losses, and all this mostly because of who? Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, Kuwait, India, China, and the US. And another few ones. A handful of sometimes despising countries, some of which who just literally trample on humans and their rights. Because the #PlasticsTreaty is also about human rights. Amnesty International, we need your help here! Meanwhile, a woman with whom I have discussed, is standing outside the venue since the beginning of INC-5. Day in, day out, she’s here 09:00-18:00 non-stop, holding her sign and not moving. Her determination and zenitude commands respect. Yes, small stakeholders can play a role, too. Early afternoon, the Caucus of Indigenous People held a moving press conference in a crowded room. I can’t relay here everything that has been said, but amongst the powerful statements that I have noted down: “They didn’t ask for consensus when they started to do plastics. […] There are no values, no understanding of humans in this paper”; “How long will they continue to steal our land from us? They are nothing but thieves. Including you. There were a lot of treaties made with us, none were kept”; “The plantation system has set up the #petrochemical industry. You wouldn’t have the problem of plastics if there was not the problem of slavery” talking about Louisiana; “We ask not to normalise death, genocide and our ancestors living from the trash”. Late afternoon, French Deputy Minister of Ecological Transition Olga Givernet held a consultation with French-speaking CSOs – to which I could participate – and reaffirmed the State’s ambition of pushing for production reduction and chemicals of concern. Hold the line. She took the time to listen to everyone, their inputs and red lines. A much-needed listening ear these days. I also managed to slip in the ITLOS Advisory Opinion, I hope she can do some leverage with it. Did you notice? The iconic #plastic tap art piece by Benjamin Von Wong is not there, it feels like something is missing. Or does it symbolically mean that it will, finally, be closed? Answer tomorrow, probably late at night, or early the following morning. #PlasticsTreaty Gallifrey Foundation - Antoinette Vermilye (she/her)

Et comme jamais deux sans trois voire plus, eh bien... encore une volée médiatique avec la RTS - Radio Télévision Suisse pour parler du #TraitéPlastiques au nom de la Gallifrey Foundation ! En attendant la prochaine 😉 📺 Lundi dernier, dans le 19h30, au sujet des additifs chimiques : https://lnkd.in/ev4iyYAF 📺 Hier vendredi, de nouveau dans le 19h30, cette fois-ci pour parler recyclage : https://lnkd.in/eFpfvWUq Et même dans Les Echos : https://lnkd.in/eubbUywX 🎙️ Ce matin, en direct à la radio depuis les négociations à Busan, pour Prise de Terre : https://lnkd.in/ejbymAqD Il faut pousser un maximum pour obtenir ce Traité ! Et les médias ont leur rôle à jouer en diffusant une information vérifiée et non biaisée. #Interview #INC5 #Médias #ProductionReduction #Plastique #PollutionPlastique #RevueDePresse

BREAKING 🚨 Observers react to state of #PlasticsTreaty negotiations and hold press conference in front of #INC5 calling countries to show #CourageNotCompromise. Read 👉 https://lnkd.in/g92Yuvp3 #BreakFreeFromPlastic Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) Greenpeace Photo Credit: Greenpeace

#INC5, Day 3️⃣: Kicking the hornet’s nest (again) [Continued in comments] I don’t know if it’s because it’s the last round or what, but there’s definitely hornet’s nest kicking in the air – and not just by us. 📢 Yesterday already, the Civil Society Organisations Coalition made a bit of a hoo-ha to protest about the conditions in which Observers are working: rooms for Contact Groups are so small that only 60 seats are allocated to them. For 3,000 registered delegates, and both UNEP and the host country knew that number since end of September, when registrations closed. People had to queue sometimes for over 1h, and they were not even sure of getting a seat in the end. This is despicable. How ironic, when you know the Chair had emphasized again the day before how crucial the participation of Observers was. Artivist Dan Acher‘s “We Are Watching” massive flag raised in Busan by Greenpeace couldn't be more topical. The next day, a larger room was allocated to host one of the CGs, but alas the other one remains way too small. 😈 Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) did it again in their press conference: combing the list of participants, they identified a staggering 220 lobbyists from #fossilfuel & chemical industry registered at INC-5. They outnumber the EU delegation of 191 and the Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty 3-to-1! If they were a delegation alone, they would be the largest of all. This is the highest number even in Plastics Treaty negotiations - as a reminder, they were 196 of them in Ottawa. So, repeat after me: KICK THEM OUT! They do NOT belong here! Would you accept weapon manufacturers in peace treaty negotiations? They wear Observers badge, like any random NGO. The “mimic” doesn’t stop here: now they’re dressing down to look like them. Bye-bye expensive suits, hello sneakers and sportswear. 😡 And since I’m utterly fed up with all the BS that the Usual Suspects are delivering for statements (“We are sincere, honest, and ready to cooperate” – Iran, “Certain vested interests are derailing the progress” – Kuwait), I am not dedicating more than 3 lines to this. Hey, it’s because of YOUR scheming and arms-twisting that we’re here wasting our time, so scram if you’re not happy, and let us do the real job! 🏆 So instead, let’s celebrate true heroes in plenary that day, who fiercely stood up to them: Colombia, Fiji, Ghana, Mexico, Switzerland – and the most vibrant of all: #Panama with Juan Carlos Monterrey Gómez. Oh wow, such a mic drop. You MUST watch this. It gave us goosebumps: https://lnkd.in/ewdQ6hHv “Plastic pollution is not just a crisis, it is an assault on our planet, on our people and an assault on our future. And yet, here we are, tiptoeing around the truth, sidestepping ambition and ignoring the urgency that demands action. If we fail to deliver a strong binding treaty, we're signing a pact of destruction for our planet and our people.” Boom! #PlasticsTreaty #PlasticPollution

#INC5, Day 2️⃣: Kicking the hornet's nest It was panel day that day and so a very important one for Gallifrey Foundation & Ocean Vision Legal. Indeed, we organised an exciting panel about the ocean-(micro)plastic pollution-climate change nexus, but more importantly, about the legal obligations that States ALREADY have, as per International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea/Tribunal international du droit de la mer's recent Advisory Opinion, to prevent, control and reduce pollution, and that includes PLASTIC pollution and PRODUCTION. States can be sued before international courts if they don't comply. Yes, you read correctly. Want to know more? Below is the presentation of our Ocean champion Dr. Anna von Rebay, and one of the crucial questions that were raised during the discussion. I will share more Q&As and videos in my next posts. So let's remind this to ALL Members States currently negotiating the #PlasticsTreaty... Make sure to download the whole presentation - including the scientific segment - via the QR code at the end of this video, and PLEASE share widely with your delegates, this is of VITAL importance this week!! ----------------------- Q: Some countries do not recognise ITLOS' authority. Can any country in the world be sued for non compliance? A: Yes, but this question actually refers to two elements. The first one is the applicable law. It is the obligation to protect and preserve the marine environment. Obligation is codified in the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea that has 170 state parties, so not universal. However, the obligation to protect and preserve the marine environment is not only an UNCLOS regulation, at the same time it is also a universally acknowledged customary international law. This means that there is no one who objected to this obligation and this obligation actually binds the entire international community. So the law applies to them all. The ITLOS, which was established through UNCLOS, only has jurisdiction for those countries who have signed onto that. BUT there is a remedy because there is the International Court of Justice (ICJ). And the law of the sea also applies in ICJ proceedings. The first part of the answer is that the obligation to protect and preserve the marine environment applies to the entire international community and that ALL states can be held liable.  -------------------------- https://lnkd.in/eqSkT4Bd #ITLOS #PlasticPollution #PlasticProduction #OceanLitigation #ProductionReduction #ClimateChange

#INC5, Day 1️⃣: A bargain discount you'd wish wasn't on offer Finally the D-Day! Months of preparation for this first one out of Gallifrey Foundation's two actions at the #PlasticsTreaty - and here am I with a wonderful crew of volunteers distributing traditional Korean rice cakes (tteok) to delegates on opening day. Hey, but what is this intriguing 50% ⬇️ pattern? It's not about #ProductionReduction (I wish!) but about... fertility collapse. 🧪 Indeed, in the last 40 years, male sperm counts have dropped by over 50% and miscarriages and #infertility for women have increased at the same rate. This is no coincidence - Dr. Shanna Swan, PhD's groundbreaking research points to chemicals found in #plastics, like #phthalates, as the major culprit. These endocrine disrupting toxics mimic our finely calibrated hormone system and wreak havoc on our reproductive #health: her studies show that global sperm decline is on track to statistical zero by 2045! Scary, isn't it? ☠️ “But wait, isn’t the global population increasing?” It is, but if the fertility rate had remained constant from 1970 to now the population would be at 14 billion – vs 8.2 billion currently. A few fun facts on this guerrilla action I have to share: originally we wanted to distribute cakes in the shape of 🍆 and 🍑 (you get the message why!) but we were advised not to since it would be a huge blunder - and seen as an insult to Koreans. As much as we are rebellious, we are very aware of respecting the locals as well. Second, when I teased (male) delegates about this #InfertilityCake, a couple asked me almost frightened if they were sperm sponge cakes! I so didn't expect that one that I had a good laugh. 🤣 But in terms of communications reach: touché. You will understand that it is imperative that the Plastics Treaty addresses health issues and chemicals of concern. This action was in partnership with Fondation de la Mer and Notpla (100% compostable packaging). Many thanks for your support! 👏 Kudos to my volunteering crew: Madison Dennis, Dianna Cohen, Muriel Papin, Pui Yi, WONG, Arvin Alvarez, daru setyorini, Hannah Testa, Arm Punyathorn! Antoinette Vermilye (she/her) - Break Free From Plastic - Plastic Pollution Coalition - No plastic in my sea