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Chemicals & Wastes

When used improperly or disposed of unsafely, chemicals pose significant risks for both the environment and human health. Toxic chemicals are found in all ecosystems on Earth, including Antarctica and the most remote seas, affecting biodiversity, agricultural production, water quality, and human health. Over 100 million man-made chemicals and chemical formulations are used in every sector of the industrial economy. Many chemicals, such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and mercury, travel over large distances through air, water currents, and in migratory species. Some POPs can remain in the human body for more than 50 years. Mercury, an element, is infinitely persistent. While chemicals and waste are major contributors to world economies, their sound management is essential to avoiding risks to human health and ecosystems and substantial costs to national economies.

Events and Articles

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64th Meeting of the GEF Council

Council Members focused on supporting new, key environmental agreements and frameworks, reaching consensus on the establishment of the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, including its programming directions, and on preparing the GEF to serve as part of the financial mechanism for the Agreement on biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ).
Event 26 June 2023 - 29 June 2023

2nd Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to Develop an International Legally Binding Instrument on Plastic Pollution, Including in the Marine Environment (INC-2)

While the meeting was characterized by procedural scuffles, long delays, and late nights, delegates shared views on an options paper and set out a path for the intersessional period leading to the next negotiating session, mandating the preparation of a “zero draft” of the new treaty to address plastics pollution.
Event 29 May 2023 - 2 June 2023

PCB Fair: Launch of the report on progress towards elimination of PCBs

The Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions (BRS) Secretariat kicked off the PCB Fair by presenting a report on progress toward eliminating PCBs and ensuring the environmentally sound waste management of chemicals and wastes, prepared in consultation with a small intersessional working group.
Event 3 May 2023

2023 Conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions (BRS COPs)

Beyond addressing resource mobilization and the illegal traffic of hazardous chemicals and wastes, delegates tried to effectiveness challenges under the Rotterdam Convention, listed new persistent organic pollutants and adopted a compliance mechanism under the Stockholm Convention, and tackled guidelines on different categories of hazardous wastes under the Basel Convention.
Conference of the Parties (COP) 1 May 2023 - 12 May 2023

13th Meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Basel Convention

Delegates had three days to address the challenges of updating the Basel Convention and its associated tools on issues including e-waste, plastic wastes, and modernizing the prior informed consent (PIC) procedure, while working to ensure the Convention is functioning effectively given the shifting landscape of chemicals and waste policy.
Event 21 February 2023 - 23 February 2023

63rd Meeting of the GEF Council

The GEF Council endorsed $65 million for biodiversity projects, including more than $18 million to support the development of biodiversity finance plans in 26 countries. GEF Council members, meeting virtually, also approved the establishment of a new Gustavo Fonseca Youth Conservation Leadership program to support the education of promising young conservationists from developing countries.
Event 28 November 2022 - 2 December 2022