Torbjørn Graff Hugo

Multilateral processes, treaty-making and diplomacy with @AcademyIntlLaw

[Torbjørn Graff Hugo @tghugo]

Where has all the fishing gear gone? Governments are negotiating a treaty on plastic pollution, but lost fishing gear—the deadliest form of plastic pollution—is conspicuously absent from the discussions. My take: https://t.co/fXEkBT2xZH #INC #plasticpollution #plasticstreaty

[Torbjørn Graff Hugo @tghugo]

In my view, there is merit in regulating raw materials under the new plastics treaty. But a global reduction target is not the way to do it. #plasticstreaty #INC https://t.co/Oa7pWKbaIf

[Torbjørn Graff Hugo @tghugo]

Can we finally say goodbye to "ending plastic pollution"? #PlasticsTreaty https://t.co/H7hG3fAr0b

[Torbjørn Graff Hugo @tghugo]

Should CO2 emissions from a gas-guzzler with polycarbonate headlamps be defined as plastic pollution? @UNEP @andersen_inger #INC #PlasticsTreaty
https://t.co/k9Veh24dKb

[Torbjørn Graff Hugo @tghugo]

A little piece on why the plastics treaty negotiations need a new approach. More of the same won't do the trick. https://t.co/duy3towUf2 #PlasticsTreaty

[EJIL: Talk! @ejiltalk]

The Most Important Negotiation You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of | by @bodanskydm

https://t.co/4uJyxOnhAU

[Tom Nordlie @TomNordlie]

Hvis man tar av seg analysebrillene og setter på underholdningsbrillene er dette EM kjedelig. Sitter kun igjen med spenningen, holder det?🤷‍♂️

[Magnus Løvold @magnuslovold]

After #INC4 for a #PlasticsTreaty in Ottawa🇨🇦 @HACplastic and other countries keen to prevent a lowest-common-denominator outcome will have to break free from the stymieing norms of environmental diplomacy #breakfreefrombrackets https://t.co/qIoyzVLjlz

[Magnus Løvold @magnuslovold]

Less than 48 hours before the start of the fourth round of #PlasticsTreaty negotiations in Ottawa #INC4, @Points_Of_Order gives you a flashback from the last, intense hours of the previous session in Nairobi.

https://t.co/ZrObkSEYlU

[@andresdelcas.bsky.social @andresdelcas]

🔴NEW 3 pages briefing: #PlasticsTreaty consensus as an obstructionist tactic in Decision-Making

"#INC4 must resolve the lingering procedural uncertainty head-on to meet the mandate of UNEA resolution 5/14 to end #plasticpollution."

READ:
https://t.co/jKVHUZ9q0N

[Torbjørn Graff Hugo @tghugo]

@alexcobham The beauty of simple majority voting rules.

[Alex Cobham @alexcobham.bsky.social @alexcobham]

With surprising speed, Annex I and Annex II have both been agreed, with some small changes. The big fight on 'consensus' never really materialised...

[Magnus Løvold @magnuslovold]

Ever wondered how your foreign minister can speak with such confidence about what’s going on in the world?
If you look closely enough, there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to trace her intercontinental zingers back to the MSC #MSC2024 https://t.co/AUXQmibXx9

[GENeva Environment Network @GENetwork]

@nordenen @KRaubenheimer @NikoUrho @ciel_tweets @IUCN_Plastics @TESSForum @brsmeas @NorwayInGeneva @UNEP @REMA_Rwanda @ONUGinebraEC @Davzoul @SugathanTrade @PlasticsEurope @EirikLindebjerg @WWF @Juliet_Kabera "It is important to have a #PlasticsTreaty that regulates #plastic products that have a high risk of entering the #environment."

Opening the session, Erlend Draget of #Norway emphasizes what the new report can offer in the process ahead of #INC4.

[alex rafalowicz @alexraf]

Elite gavel game from #COP28 presidency to adopt a decision in Dubai.

My thoughts: 🧵

Having the words 'fossil fuels' in the text is an important political signal, but it's a far cry from the 'historic' outcome we were all calling for - it is almost the weakest credible phrase

[#StopRosebank @StopCambo]

🚨Breaking news from #COP28

🇨🇴Colombia has joined the call for a #FossilFuelTreaty 👏🏾👏🏾

This is huge. They are the biggest oil producer to call for an end to fossil fuels.

Meanwhile, Norway & the UK shamelessly double down on new oil & gas fields that will wreck the climate.

[Torbjørn Graff Hugo @tghugo]

@alexcobham Whether it's actually accountable to G20 is highly questionable..

[Torbjørn Graff Hugo @tghugo]

The beginning of the end for OECD's (puzzling) supremacy on development of global tax rules. Historic decision in UNGA's second committee to start negotiations on a framework convention on tax cooperation. #UNTaxConvention

[Alex Cobham @alexcobham.bsky.social @alexcobham]

Here it is: we move forward to a #UNTaxConvention !

[Magnus Løvold @magnuslovold]

The third round of the #PlasticsTreaty #INC3 negotiations just concluded in Nairobi with no plan for how to move the process forward. This is a deeply disappointing, but not unexpected, outcome. For too long, ambitious countries have failed to face up to the reality that a meaningful treaty on plastic pollution cannot be achieved as long as the least ambitious countries are allowed to control the pace of the process.

The Nairobi round will go down in history as an unqualified failure of multilateral environmental diplomacy. It did nothing but record in elaborate detail the magnitude of the committee’s disunity. The week’s proceedings have swept away all doubt that some of the countries involved in this process — notably Iran Saudi Arabia and Russia — are negotiating in bad faith. It is impossible to develop a treaty on plastic pollution under such circumstances.

As they prepare for the next negotiation round in Ottawa, @HACplastic and other ambitious countries must muster the courage to move ahead, even if those least willing to join stay behind.

We cannot afford to let a small minority of countries continue to hold this process hostage. It is time to overrule their spoiler tactics, and take future substantive decisions to a vote #ConsensusKillsDemocracy