Input by the President of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants

Instruction

The High Level Political Forum (HLPF) under the auspices of the General Assembly (“SDG Summit”) resulted in the adoption of a Political Declaration that proclaimed a decade for action and delivery for sustainable development and outlined ten crosscutting areas for accelerated action for the achievement of the SDGs. The General Assembly decided that the theme for the 2021 session of the HLPF and the Economic and Social Council will be “Building back better from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.

The HLPF in 2022 will review progress toward SDGs 4 on quality education, 5 on gender equality, 14 on life below water, 15 on life on land, and 17 on partnerships for the Goals. The Forum will take into account the different and particular impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic across these SDGs and the integrated, indivisible and interlinked nature of the Goals.

Input from the President of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention could showcase the views, findings, research, data and policy recommendations on specific aspects of an SDG-driven response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the SDGs under review.

Introduction

The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) was adopted on 22 May 2001 by the Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Stockholm, Sweden, and entered into force in 2004. As at February 2022, it has 185 Parties and thus its coverage is global. The overarching objective of the Stockholm Convention is to protect human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants (POPs). These are 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 and on the environment.

The current scope of the Stockholm Convention is 30 POPs, which are pesticides, industrial chemicals and/or byproducts. Any Party may submit a proposal for listing a new chemical to be listed in Annexes A, B and/or C to the Convention. The scientific subsidiary body, the POPs Review Committee, evaluates the proposals and makes recommendations to the Conference of the Parties on such listing.

The provisions of the Convention center around the following principal aims:

Eliminating production and use (Annex A). Most of the intentionally produced POPs are targeted for elimination with certain exemptions. PCB are the most notable exception. Production has been stopped but their use in existing equipment is allowed until 2025 and PCB wastes are to be disposed of in an environmentally sound manner by 2028.

Restricting production and use (Annex B). The Convention allows very limited and carefully controlled use of certain POPs while also seeking alternatives. For example, DDT is only allowed to be used to control disease vectors like the mosquitoes that carry malaria.

Reducing and ultimately eliminating unintentional production (Annex C). The Convention promotes the use of the best available techniques and best environmental practices to reduce and ultimately eliminate the releases of unintentional POPs such as dioxins and furans into the environment.

Ensuring that stockpiles and wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with POPs are managed safely and in an environmentally sound manner. The Convention requires that such stockpiles and wastes be identified and managed in an environmentally sound manner in line with the Basel Convention to reduce or eliminate POPs releases from these sources. It also channels resources into cleaning up the existing stockpiles and dumps of POPs that litter the world’s landscapes, identify sites contaminated by POPs and remediate in an environmentally sound manner.

Targeting additional POPs. The Convention is dynamic and has mechanisms to identify other POPs chemicals that require action. This is achieved through a scientifically rigorous process. Lack of full scientific certainty does not prevent a proposal by a Party for listing a new chemical to be listed in Annexes A, B and/or C to the Convention from proceeding.

Monitoring and effectiveness evaluation . The Convention includes provisions for the collection of comparable monitoring data on the presence of POPs in the environment and in human populations, in order to identify trends in levels over time, and for evaluating whether the Convention is effective in achieving its objective to protect human health and the environment from POPs.

Developing a plan to implement the Stockholm Convention. The Parties to the Stockholm Convention are required to develop and to implement a plan within two years of entry into force of the Convention for it; and to keep reviewing and updating, as appropriate, its plan as specified by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention.

The Stockholm Convention also provides for the establishment of arrangements for the purpose of providing technical assistance and promoting the transfer of technology to developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition. Currently the Convention has a network of 16 regional and subregional centres for capacity building and the transfer of technology to developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition. These autonomous institutions operate under the authority of the Conference of the Parties.

The Stockholm Convention is equipped with a mechanism to protect human health and the environment from POPs using the latest scientific evidence by listing new chemicals which meet the criteria under the Convention to be classed as POPs. The Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC) conducts rigorous scientific reviews of chemicals proposed by Parties for listing and makes recommendations to the Conference of the Parties, acting as key science-policy interface of the Stockholm Convention. Thus, at its ninth meeting in 2019, the COP to the Stockholm Convention decided to eliminate one pesticide and one group of toxic chemicals, which together total about 4,000 chemicals, listed in Annex A to the Stockholm Convention, namely dicofol and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and its salts and PFOA-related compounds. The latter has till now been used in a wide variety of industrial and domestic applications including non-stick cookware and food processing equipment, as well as surfactants in textiles, carpets, paper, paints and fire-fighting foams. In June 2022, the face-to-face segment of the tenth meeting of the COP to the Stockholm Convention will consider listing perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), its salts and PFHxS-related compounds in Annex A to the Stockholm Convention. Similar to PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds as well as perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride (PFOSF) listed in Annex B to the Convention, PFHxS, its salts and PFHxS-related compounds belong to a group of chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), many of which have high resistance to friction, heat and chemical agents and are used as water, grease, oil and soil repellents. They are widely utilized in a variety of consumer goods such as carpets, leather, apparel, textiles, firefighting foam, papermaking, printing inks, sealants, non-stick cookware.

Across the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions, the conferences of the Parties have recognized the importance of the science-policy interface for the effectiveness of the conventions and the need for greater access to scientific understanding in developing countries to enhance informed decision-making on the implementation of the conventions. Under the programme “From Science to Action”, capacity building to enhance interaction between scientists, policymakers and other actors for science-based action has been carried out.