As the UN reports that 2.78 million workers worldwide die each year from exposure to toxic substances in unsafe workplaces[1], a UN global scientific committee recommends eliminating two more toxic chemicals, to protect human health and the environment.

The UN Stockholm Convention’s Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC) held its 14^th meeting at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Headquarters in Rome, from 17 - 21 September 2018. More than 150 chemicals experts, from all UN regions, attended the meeting.

The Committee recommended to eliminate the industrial chemical perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds, widely used in domestic non-stick cooking ware and food-processing appliances, surface treatment agents in textiles, paper and paints, and in firefighting foams. The chemical is known to be toxic to humans and the environment with links to major health issues such as kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid disease, and pregnancy-induced hypertension[2].

This recent recommendation, together with the additional recommendation made by the Committee at its previous meeting, held in October 2017, to eliminate the pesticide dicofol[3], will be considered by the next meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP), which will be held in Geneva from 29 April to 10 May 2019.

The theme of the next COP is: Clean Planet, Healthy People: Sound Management of Chemicals and Waste. To date, 28 chemicals of global concern have been listed under the Stockholm Convention.

Dicofol is a pesticide similar to DDT, used to control mites on field crops, tea, cotton, fruits and vegetables and ornamentals, highly toxic to fish, birds, aquatic organisms and algae and posing a health risk to humans.

Rolph Payet, Executive Secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions, stressed that “The Committee has found that both Dicofol and PFOA satisfy all criteria for listing, has considered additional information, and has made its recommendation, and so the decision to list will be discussed by Parties to the Convention at their next available opportunity, the next COP in April next year. At a time when the sound management of chemicals is high on the public agenda, once again the work of this Committee is shown to be exemplary in its approach and robustness, making recommendations aimed at protecting human health and environment: truly, working for a clean planet and healthy people.”

The Executive Secretary expressed his thanks to the members of the Committee for their hard work, evident from research showing a reduction in some POPs worldwide, according to data collected by the Convention’s Global Monitoring Plan.

Note for Editors:

The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from chemicals that remain intact in the environment for long periods, become widely distributed geographically, accumulate in the fatty tissue of humans and wildlife, and have harmful impacts on human health or on the environment. Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) can lead to serious health effects including certain cancers, birth defects, dysfunctional immune and reproductive systems, greater susceptibility to disease and damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems. Given their long-range transport, global action is needed to protect citizens and the environment from POPs.

In response to this global problem, the Stockholm Convention, which was adopted in 2001 and entered into force in 2004, requires its Parties to take measures to eliminate or reduce the release of POPs into the environment. As of today, this legally-binding Convention has 182 Parties, giving it almost universal coverage.

For more information, please contact:

• For POPRC/Stockholm Convention: www.pops.int or contact:
  Kei OHNO WOODALL, Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (UNEP), Geneva: +41-79-2333218, +41-22-917-78201, kei.ohno-woodall@brsmeas.org
• For BRS conventions general media enquiries: www.brsmeas.org or contact:
  Charlie AVIS, Public Information Officer (UN Environment), Geneva +41-79-7304495
  

UN convention on wastes makes breakthrough recommendations to address global marine litter and other types of wastes

6th September 2018: Geneva, Switzerland - Momentum was built in Geneva this week to better address wastes including marine plastic litter and microplastics, through decisions adopted today by the Open-ended Working Group of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal^[1].

More than 400 experts from 135 countries and international organisations, including industry associations, met and today adopted a suit of decisions related to wastes, including marine plastic litter and microplastics, electronic waste, and household waste.

Additionally, a High Level Event was organised bringing together more than 70 ambassadors and heads of international organisations to further enhance the commitment for global action for marine plastic litter.

Decision, which will now be submitted to the next meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention (or COP), to be held at the end of April 2019 in Geneva, include the following:

A proposed new Partnership on Plastic Waste under the Basel Convention, designed as an international vehicle for public-private cooperation, sharing of best practices, and technical assistance in the area of at-source measures to minimise and more effectively manage plastic waste, thus helping tackle the global environmental problem of marine plastic litter;

Consideration of possible amendments to Annexes of the Convention, in relation to solid plastic waste, in order to assist Parties to better minimise and control their transboundary movement;

Further development of the Technical Guidelines on Electronic Waste (or E-waste), which are available for use by Parties to assist in implementing environmentally sound management of E-waste, which is amongst the fastest-growing waste-streams in the world, as well as consideration of options a new partnership on e-waste to follow the Partnership for Action on Computing Equipment (PACE);

Further development of the Household Waste Partnership under the Basel Convention, aiming for an integrated approach for household waste management, acknowledged as one of the key challenges related to waste management faced by national governments, particularly in developing countries;

Enhanced cooperation with World Customs Organisation to strengthen the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, used by customs authorities to improve the control of wastes crossing borders.

Finalisation of the draft Manuals on Extended Producer Responsibility, which when completed can assist Parties with concrete actions for promoting the life-cycle approach in the manufacturing of products through to recycling.

Speaking today shortly before closing, the meeting’s Co-Chairs Mr. Mohamed Kashashneh (Jordan) and Ms. Justina Grigaraviciene (Lithuania) congratulated the Parties on reaching what they deemed to be “an historical outcome regarding marine plastic litter and microplastics. This and other decisions taken this week will bring the Basel Convention to a new era of effectiveness in helping Parties minimize and sustainably manage their wastes.”

Reflecting upon both the OEWG11 and the High Level Event, Rolph Payet, Executive Secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions, said that the decisions of the OEWG11, combined with heightened international commitment “constitute an important step in addressing the technical, legal, and political dimensions of the problem of marine plastic litter and pollution from other hazardous wastes. These three dimensions reinforce one another and are all vital for tackling such a ubiquitous and significant set of issues and challenges.”.

Meetings continue with the organisation of the 13^th Meeting of the Basel Convention’s Implementation and Compliance Committee (ICC13) back-to-back with OEWG11, at which progress is expected on a range of relevant legal questions. Details of decisions taken at ICC13 will be posted on the BRS website in due course.

For further information:

Susan Wingfield
Programme Officer, for OEWG-11
Susan.Wingfield@brsmeas.org
Tel: +41-22-9178406

Juliette Voinov Kohler
Legal officer, for ICC-13
Juliette.Kohler@brsmeas.org
Tel: +41-22-9178219

BRS Press Enquiries

Charlie Avis
Public Information Officer
Charles.Avis@brsmeas.org 
Tel: +41-79-7304495

[1] The Basel  Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste and their Disposal is the most comprehensive international environmental agreement on hazardous and other wastes and is almost universal, with 186 Parties. For more information, see www.basel.int

Workers are dying as a result of toxic exposure in the workplace at a rate of one every 30 seconds, according to the new report from the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Hazardous Substances and Wastes, presented on 12 September at the 39^th session of the Human Rights Council, in Geneva.

With 2.78 million deaths per year attributable to unhealthy or unsafe workplaces, the report finds that women, children, migrant works and the poor are especially vulnerable, and that the solutions to solve this global crisis of public occupational health require the participation of business, governments, and international organisations.

The report contains 15 recommendations or principles, the implementation of which would ease this toxic burden on workers around the world. Key among these is that every worker has the right not to be exposed to toxic substances without their prior informed consent, meaning full and prior information on the toxic hazards he or she might be exposed to.

The report states that workers have the right to also know the implications of exposure to harmful substances and wastes, the actions being taken to prevent exposure, and their rights in relation to such exposures. In relation to this right to know, the report finds that it is never legitimate for States or businesses to refuse to disclose health and safety information on the grounds that it is confidential, a safeguard which is also found in the legally-binding Stockholm (article 9) and Minamata (article 17) conventions respectively.

Following the 15 principles would assist countries and businesses to implement the ILO Promotional Framework for Healthy, would contribute towards the attainment of the globally-agreed Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs, and would also advance the implementation of the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm conventions, the three principal and legally-binding chemicals and waste conventions, which have near-universal scope with 186, 160 and 182 parties respectively.

More importantly, however, implementing these principles would eliminate suffering, illness and death amongst the world’s most vulnerable workers.

For more details on the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Toxics, please see: http://www.srtoxics.org/

For the full report on Workers’ Rights and Hazardous Substances and Wastes, go to: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Environment/ToxicWastes/Pages/RightsWorkersToxicChemicalExposure.aspx

The Theme is launched on the occasion of World Cleanup Day 2018, a global day of action to improve waste management and work collectively towards a cleaner planet for all. More information on World Cleanup Day can be found here: https://www.worldcleanupday.org.

More information on the Triple COPs can be found here: http://www.brsmeas.org/2019COPs/Overview/tabid/7523/language/en-US/Default.aspx.