Unsound management of chemicals throughout their entire lifecycle, including their waste, produces unwanted emissions and releases to the environment and exposure to hazardous chemicals.
Pollution is one of the key drivers of biodiversity loss. Chemicals and waste are ubiquitous in the environment and found in all parts of the globe, and global production and distribution of chemicals-based products continues to increase.
The Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm conventions address some of the most significant chemicals and waste pollution that has been identified over the last several decades and are thus contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has three main objectives: the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of the components of biological diversity, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources. The BRS conventions secretariat cooperates, collaborates, and exchanges information with the CBD Secretariat on various matters of common interest. Please click here for more information.
The Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)
In December 2023, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework was adopted by the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), in decision 15/14. The GBF sets out an ambitious pathway to reach the global vision of a world living in harmony with nature by 2050. Target 7 of the GBF is related to pollution from all sources and aims to:
“Reduce pollution risks and the negative impact of pollution from all sources, by 2030, to levels that are not harmful to biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, considering cumulative effects, including: (a) by reducing excess nutrients lost to the environment by at least half, including through more efficient nutrient cycling and use; (b) by reducing the overall risk from pesticides and highly hazardous chemicals by at least half, including through integrated pest management, based on science, taking into account food security and livelihoods; and (c) by preventing, reducing, and working towards eliminating plastic pollution.”
Along with the GBF, COP-15 to the CBD adopted a monitoring framework for the GBF in decision 15/5. The GBF monitoring framework is comprised of a set of agreed indicators for tracking progress towards the goals and targets of the GBF. In one way or another, every single target under the GBF may be directly or indirectly be related to the environmentally sound management of chemicals and waste. Some specific targets have been listed with possible indicators directly related to the work on the chemicals, waste and pollution prevention cluster: