1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs held the 9th Green Round Table under the theme “Transition to Circular Economy and International Cooperation to End Plastic Pollution” at the Global Green Growth Institute on December 8th 2022. 

o The event was attended in person and online by representatives from governments, academia, business sector, the international organizations and others. Among the attendees were: H.E. Hyoeun Jenny Kim, Ambassador and Deputy Minister for Climate Change of the Foreign Ministry; H.E. Mr. Ono Hiroshi, Vice-Minister for Global Environmental Affairs of Japan and INC Bureau nominee for the Asia-Pacific Group; Dr. Frank Rijsberman, Director-General of Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI); and Mr. Lee Sanghyup, the President of the Green Technology Center (GTC).

2. In her welcoming remarks, Ambassador Kim stressed that Korea, as a global pivotal state, is actively participating in the international efforts to respond to plastic pollution and that the Korean government supports the development of an international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution based on the principles of circular economy.

o The Korean government co-sponsored the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) Resolution 5/14, in which countries agreed to draft an international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution, and took part in the 1st session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC), held on November 28 – December 2 in Uruguay to develop the instrument in accordance with the Resolution. The Korean government has also expressed its interest in hosting the 5th session of the INC in Korea in the second half of 2024.

3. Participants in the first session of the Green Round Table reviewed the different circular economy policies, which have been drawing attention as a potential way to reduce environmental pollution, and exchanged views on challenges in making the shift from a linear to a circular economy. 

o The discussion on the circular economy trends in Korea and abroad was led by speakers including: Mr. Llorenc Mila I Canals, Head of the Secretariat of Life Cycle Initiative of UNEP; Mr. Jaewoong Jeong, Executive Director of the HQ of Resource Recirculation Management of Korea Environment Corporation; Dr. Sungyeon Hwang, Associate Professor of College of Life Sciences of the Kyung Hee University; and representatives from the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Korea, GGGI, and the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA). The session was chaired by H.E. Sung-hwan Son, Advisory Ambassador for Green Climate Fund (GCF) of Incheon City.

4. Participants in the second session introduced the recent developments in the negotiations to draft an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution and agreed that the governments, civil societies and businesses need to work together to resolve plastic pollution and to come to an agreement on the instrument as early as possible.

o Deputy Director-General for Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Scientific Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, Dr. Han Minyoung and H.E. Mr. Ono Hiroshi, Vice-Minister for Global Environmental Affairs of Japan, who attended the 1st session of the INC as respective head of delegations shared the outcomes of the first INC.

o In addition, participants from diplomatic missions in Korea and relevant organizations, including Ambassador of Rwanda to Korea H.E. Yasmin Amri Sued, Ambassador-designate of Norway to Korea H.E. Anne Ovind, and Dr. Sung-whee Rhee, Dean of Graduate School of Engineering of Kyonggi University as well as representatives of the WWF International and Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty shared various perspectives on the negotiations on the agreement.

5. This event served as an opportunity to help increase people’s understanding of the issues and trends in multilateral environmental diplomacy, in particular, the international response to plastic pollution. 

o The event also served as an occasion to bring together people from different sectors and from different nations to engage in a constructive discussion on environmental diplomacy and to build global cooperation in the area.