Four sisters observe plastic treaty talks in Korea

What in the world are four Sisters of St. Joseph doing at the fifth United Nations international negotiating session on a plastic pollution treaty (INC-5)?

Last Monday, at the opening plenary session for the UN treaty negotiations, myself and three other sisters were sitting next to a doctor from the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. During the break, she asked why four Catholic sisters were there. I explained that we are representing the worldwide Sisters of St. Joseph who share a common origin in France and that we have a UN NGO with ECOSOC status. Since the 1960s, we have prioritized participating in global affairs related to human rights and justice at the United Nations. Though none of us are experts on plastic pollution, we have learned a great deal from organizations like hers, including Health Care Without Harm, the Endocrine Society, and the International Pollution Elimination Network (IPEN). It has been our privilege to amplify their voices.

Our charism calls us to serve the dear neighbor without distinction, which includes caring for our common home. Plastic use and pollution are not just issues of developed versus developing countries or national interests like policy and economy. Plastics impact all life—regardless of social status—on a global scale. We recognize that discussions alone cannot solve this crisis. Concrete, actionable, and urgent solutions are needed to address decades of pollution effectively.

I attended the fourth negotiating session in Canada earlier this year (read about the experience), and this time, I was happy to be joined by three of our sisters. Our communication has been interesting. Sisters Teresa Mitani and Chizuru Yamada from Japan have a pretty good mastery of English. Sister Agripina Morales from Peru has a little bit of English. Sister Teresa has a little bit of Spanish. I have a little Spanish and very little Japanese. With our handy Google Translate, we have done pretty well. At the plenary sessions, Agripina can listen to simultaneous interpretation in Spanish. All of the small group sessions (usually several hundred people) are in English only. I have been using Google Translate to provide Agripina with a summary of what each country has been saying. It’s an interesting system, but it seems to work for us.

Initial Impressions

I asked my companions to share their initial impressions of the negotiating session.

Sister Chizuru Yamada, CSJ

I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in INC-5. Usually, we only see the complete versions of various treaties, so it is a great blessing to be able to see the process of their creation. I was surprised to see how each country and region seriously debated over just one word, and how completely different approaches to the same theme emerged due to the differences in ethics and cultures that each country and region has. Since we are still in the middle of the discussion, I do not know how it will be resolved. I hope that it will become a highly effective and binding treaty.

I also think that it was a great blessing that sisters from three countries—the United States, Peru and Japan—participated this time. I think that by working on the same theme in the same place, we can exchange ideas that transcend our own differences.

Actually, I majored in polymers (plastics) at university. For many years, I felt that ‘how humans and plastics can coexist’ is the mission of those who have studied polymers. With this experience as a trigger, I would like to always pay attention to how the world is moving around plastics and how we should act.

Sister Teresa Mitani, CSJ

I was a bit worried last night because there was a sense of tension during last night’s negotiating session, but I have a very strong impression that each country is seriously considering how to establish standards for this treaty.

Sister Agripina Morales, CSJ

My gratitude to the congregation for the opportunity to participate in this meeting, in particular to Patty Johnson for inviting me to have this experience and to each sister for the help I have received to be present at this meeting, as they say, “Where there is one Sister of Saint Joseph, we are all here.”

Hope for an agreement

In these cases, language, culture and other aspects limit reaching an agreement, but the different positions and contributions must be negotiated if the problem is to be resolved. At this point, what cannot be negotiated are the effects that plastic pollution causes every minute that passes. I think that many of us see with sadness the disinterest or indifference that some of our leaders show when they say that they do not agree and do not suggest alternatives that resolve this entrapment that human beings themselves have unleashed. Sometimes it makes us think that there are other factors that do not allow them to change their idea to reach an agreement and benefit everyone or those who will live with this into the future.”

As you can see from these comments, being here has affected us profoundly. We have strengthened our relationships with each other and our partners, have interacted with the teams from our three countries, and continue to hope for a positive outcome.