The Cook Islands emphasised the need to address chemicals of concern found in plastics, which disproportionately impacts human health and the environment in Pacific Small Island Developing States, at a side event hosted on the margins of the Triple Conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions (BRS COPs).

Director of the Cook Islands National Environment Service (NES), Halatoa Fua, one of the invited panelists, spoke to the fact that the Pacific contributes 1.3 per cent of global plastic pollution, and are not producers of plastics. However, Pacific communities have to live with the impacts of chemicals of concern in plastics. 

“As vulnerable communities and indigenous populations already battling with the slow onset of climate change, the Cook Islands and many Small Islands Developing States have very little control over the plastic products entering our markets,” Fua said.

“For us in the Cook Islands, we don’t have the capacity to assess the chemical composition present in plastic products and production, and the scientific determination of impacts on human health and the environment.”

According to Fua, there are now multiple studies available on those impacts, particularly through the duration of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) negotiations for a legally binding treaty on plastics that have brought to light the harmful effects of some of the products being used, particularly for children.  

Technical experts who joined Fua on the panel shared that chemicals of concern found in plastics directly contribute to public health issues worldwide including infertility, cardiovascular diseases, and metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes.

All of these are on the rise globally. Studies have also shown the chemicals contained in plastics are not inert – chemicals contained in plastic packaging can leach into food and drink, and into the environment.

This, according to Fua, makes the issue of managing plastics that contain chemicals of concern as much a health issue during use as it is a waste management issue at end of life, when the toxic chemicals leach through landfilling, burning, and other disposal that posts risks to human health and the environment. 

The solution for Pacific Small Islands Developing States such as the Cook Islands lies in the development of a plastics treaty that will include a global obligation to guide the influx of plastic products that enter the region. 

With the INC 5.2 to be held in Geneva in August this year, Fua says that the Pacific will continue to put pressure on, and hold member states accountable to ensure a treaty that is fit for purpose, effective, and is reflective of the full life cycle of plastics. 

“The consistent position we’ve taken has been to ensure that chemicals of concern are dealt with at the point of production and product design. This will alleviate some of the burden for countries importing and disposing of end-of-life plastic such as those in the Pacific with limited waste treatment capacity.”

The 17th Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention, 12th Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention, and the 12th Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention is held from April 28 – May 9, 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland.
The representatives from the Pacific include Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

• SPREP