“Sustainable and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic that promotes the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development: building an inclusive and effective path for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda in the context of the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development”

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 “Sustainable and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic that promotes the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development: building an inclusive and effective path for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda in the context of the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development”.

The HLPF in 2021 will also discuss Sustainable Development Goals 1 on no poverty, 2 on zero hunger, 3 on good health and well-being, 8 on decent work and economic growth, 10 on reduced inequalities, 12 on responsible consumption and production, 13 on climate action, 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions, and 17 on partnerships in depth. The Forum will consider the integrated, indivisible and interlinked nature of the SDGs.

Input from the President of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants could showcase the views and guidance of your intergovernmental bodies on those aspects of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the various measures and types of international cooperation that can control the pandemic and its impacts and put the world back on track to achieve the SDGs by 2030, within the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development and highlight the views in line with the six areas below.

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 March 2021, it has 184 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 or 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 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. PCBs are the most notable exception. Production has been stopped but their use in existing equipment is allowed until 2025 to ensure that PCBs are disposed of in an environmentally sound manner.

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 to reduce or eliminate POPs releases from these sources. The Convention also recognizes that a special effort may sometimes be needed to phase out certain chemicals for specific uses and seeks to ensure that this effort is made. It also channels resources into cleaning up the existing stockpiles and dumps of POPs that litter the world’s landscapes.

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 and lack of full scientific certainty does not prevent a proposal 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. Each Party to the Stockholm Convention is 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.