Summary
Highlights for Friday, 4 October 2019
The Third Meeting of the Intersessional Process for Considering the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) and the Sound Management of Chemicals and Waste Beyond 2020 (IP3) convened for its last day on Friday, 4 October 2019, in Bangkok, Thailand.In the morning, plenary briefly reconvened to hear the Co-Chairs of the four thematic groups report on progress made in addressing their respective mandates, particularly in reducing brackets around text being developed for the fifth session of the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM5).Work then resumed in three of the four thematic groups. The Thematic Group on Targets, Milestones, and Indicators finished discussion on the targets assigned and signed off on draft terms of reference for a technical working group to be established in the months before IP4 in March 2020 to complete remaining work on targets, milestones, and indicators. The Thematic Group on Enhanced Governance and Institutional Mechanisms reviewed the Co-Chairs' paper on enhancing multi-sectoral multi-stakeholder engagement. The Group asked relevant stakeholders to develop plans for their contributions to the post-2020 platform and submit them to the Secretariat for compilation and consideration at IP4. The Group also conducted an additional reading of the section on institutions, focusing principally on provisions regarding the functions of the International Conference.The Thematic Group on Financial Considerations discussed the Co-Chairs' paper on capacity building and decided to circulate it to stakeholders for comments to be submitted to the Secretariat by 15 December, so a revised document could be considered at IP4. The Group also reviewed proposals for finance-related targets, including where indicators might be needed to be developed, to be forwarded to the expert group on targets, indicators, and milestones that will meet before IP4.At closing plenary, delegates heard reports from the thematic groups and from the various organizations that hosted the week's sectoral meetings on health, agriculture, labor, and environment. ICCM5 President Gertrud Sahler hailed the intensive and fruitful deliberations as setting a firm foundation for work at IP4 and a large step toward a successful ICCM5. IP Co-Chair David Morin (Canada) outlined the process for generating a "zero draft" for deliberations at IP4. Germany announced that it would host a special workshop before IP4 to discuss a possible enabling framework for the beyond-2020 platform, and Norway offered to help fund broad stakeholder participation in the workshop. The meeting closed at 5:45 pm.As the meeting closed and delegates left the conference center, many commented on the progress made both in the formal thematic group deliberations and in informal discussions between participants. While all admitted that IP4 faces a very full agenda, there was some optimism. As one participant put it, "the value of the meeting should be measured not by the amount of bracketed text, but by the valuable conversations that began to find common ground."
IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) meeting coverage, provided daily web coverage and a summary and analysis report from IP3. The summary and analysis report is now available in HTML and PDF.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Sean Wu
For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page
Plenary
Thematic Discussions
Around the Venue
