Julio Cordano of Chile has been elected as the next chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) tasked with developing a global, legally binding treaty on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment.
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The election of the new chair took place during INC-5.3 – the third part of the committee’s fifth session – in Geneva, Switzerland on 7 February, convened solely for organisational matters, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a press statement.
With over 25 years in foreign service, Cordano currently serves as director for environment, climate change and oceans at Chile’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and oversees the country’s international climate and ocean diplomacy efforts.
He replaced former chair of the INC, Vayas Valdivieso of Ecuador, who resigned from his duties on 31 October last year after multiple rounds of talks failed to reach an agreement on how to combat plastic pollution. Valdivieso remains ambassador of Ecuador to the United Kingdom.
Jyoti Mathur-Filipp, executive secretary of the INC Secretariat, congratulated Cordano and said she look forward to supporting the Committee under his leadership.
Cordona described plastic pollution as a global crisis requiring urgent and collective action upon accepting the leadership role.
“Plastic pollution is a planetary problem that affects every country, community and individual,” he said.
“Therefore, a treaty is urgently needed to support concerted action and bring us together to address this shared responsibility. I am willing and determined to play a leading role in helping the Committee cross the finish line.”
Following his appointment, the committee also elected Linroy Christian of Antigua and Barbuda, the director of analytical services laboratory in the country’s Ministry of Agriculture, as vice-chair, replacing Ambassador Johanna Lissinger-Peitz of Sweden. He represents Small Island Developing States (SIDS) at the global plastic treaty talks.
The latest elections took place as negotiations enter a critical phase, with governments under pressure to bridge longstanding differences and finalise an ambitious agreement capable of addressing the scale and complexity of global plastic pollution.
The INC was established in March 2022 after UN member states adopted a landmark resolution at the resumed fifth session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2) at Nairobi, Kenya. The resolution launched a formal process to negotiate an international, legally binding instrument aimed at ending plastic pollution across its full lifecycle, including its impacts on oceans and marine ecosystems.
Since then, the committee has convened multiple negotiating sessions in different regions, bringing together governments, observers, civil society groups and industry stakeholders to develop the scope, structure and core obligations of the treaty.
While the talks have helped narrow options on a range of topics, including product design, waste management and financing mechanisms, discussions remained stalled over several matters, with oil-producing countries opposing proposals on plastic production caps and eliminating chemicals of concern in plastics, among other things.
Civil society groups have urged governments and other stakeholders in Southeast Asia not to wait for the conclusion of the plastic treaty talks to act on plastic pollution. Doug Woodring, head of waste management non-profit Ocean Recovery Alliance told the Eco-Business Podcast last year that countries can already enact domestic producer-pays laws to address the issue.
