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We updated our website in 2021 to better share our reports from events covered since 1992. It also includes full coverage – including photography and highlights of proceedings – from more recent events.
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Next Steps for the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework
While a lot of attention has gone to climate talks at the end of 2021, countries are also negotiating biodiversity targets.
Minamata COP 4.2 - 24 March 2022
Fourth day of the Minamata Convention on Mercury COP 4.2 (24 March 2022)
Minamata COP 4.2 - 25 March 2022
Fifth day of the Minamata Convention on Mercury COP 4.2 (25 March 2022)
Linking the Rio Conventions: Where we saw progress in 2022
The three Rio Conventions have been linked—at least on paper—since the 1992 Earth Summit. While each treaty stands on its own, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), both of which were opened for signature at the Rio Earth Summit, and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the negotiation of which was called for in the Rio Earth Summit outcome—Agenda 21, remain intricately linked because they address interconnected and interdependent issues.
The Environmental Negotiation Leaps of 2022
Never in the history of humanity has the world faced so many environmental threats. Climate change is now called a climate emergency. We are losing biodiversity at an alarming rate. Our oceans are being choked with plastic, and we continue to produce toxic chemicals that are harmful to humans and wildlife. For millions of people, access to fresh water and sanitation is a growing challenge. The basic human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights are at risk. As Article 3 of the Declaration states: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” Sadly, too many lives are being lost because of our profligate abuse of the natural environment.
The Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade
The Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade is a global treaty between 165 countries that provides early warning to countries about a broad range of hazardous chemicals that are traded internationally. The information shared under the Convention, including whether a hazardous chemical is banned or severely restricted in other countries, enables governments to assess the risks posed by these chemicals to human health and the environment, and to make informed decisions on their import. It is one of the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions—a triad of agreements that together tackle the life cycle of global chemicals and waste management.
Brief by Pamela Chasek, PhD
Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal
The 1989 Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal is an international treaty between 190 countries on the management, disposal, and transboundary movements of hazardous wastes produced worldwide. It is the oldest of the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions, which together tackle the life cycle of global chemicals and waste management.
Brief by Pamela Chasek, PhD
Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is a global treaty between 186 countries 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 the environment. It is the youngest of the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions, which together tackle the life cycle of global chemicals and waste.
Brief by Pamela Chasek, PhD
Can Global Chemicals Governance Help Phaseouts in Other Sectors?
“Forever chemicals,” aka PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) are now mainstream news (for example in the Washington Post and on BBC). Yet, comprehensive discussion of the impacts of chemicals on our environment and health tends to be confined to dedicated outlets and niche literature.