Natural disasters exacerbate the impact of plastic pollution and increase the vulnerability of our people and our oceans.

This was highlighted by Fiji’s Ambassador to Indonesia Amena Yauvoli, as he led a delegation to the third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee in Nairobi, Kenya.

Yauvoli says Fiji, like other Pacific Island Developing States import plastic and our ‘moana’, the ocean, is at the receiving end of plastic pollution.

He says there is a critical need to establish an internationally binding instrument addressing plastic pollution, particularly in marine environments.

The Ambassador says the instrument should cover the full lifespan of plastic from extraction and production to its end-of-life management, taking into account the disproportionate impacts of plastic pollution on Small Island Developing States.

According to Yauvoli, the convenience of using plastics does not justify the large-scale and nearly irreparable contamination of the Pacific Ocean, its natural resources, and the costs to the health of the people now and for generations to come.

The Fijian delegation is among those from the Pacific Island region, which is attending the negotiation to amplify the One Pacific Voice, calling for an end to plastic pollution for a cleaner Pacific.