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Stockholm Convention pushes chemicals issues up to the top of the Global Agenda
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are often commonly used substances such as pesticides and industrial chemicals released into the environment by human activity. They pose a serious risk to both human and environmental health because of their long-lifetime in the environment, their potential for long-range transport and their capacity to build up to dangerous levels as they work their way through the food chain.
To protect human health and the environment from these highly dangerous and long-lasting chemicals, the Stockholm Convention on POPs was created. This Convention, which entered into force in 2004, is a global treaty with the aim of restricting and ultimately eliminating the production, use, trade, release and storage of harmful chemicals.
In May 2009, governments united at the 4th Conference of the Parties (COP) and amended the Convention to include nine new chemicals. Many of these are still widely used today, such as pesticides, flame retardants and a number of other commercial uses. This conference, which was hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and brought together over 160 governments, resulted in this practical decision that will strengthen a global effort to eradicate some of the most toxic chemicals known to humankind.
A landmark decision was also reached on DDT, historically used to kill mosquitoes and stop the transmission of malaria. The Stockholm Convention states that the Parties endeavor towards "...the goal of reducing and ultimately eliminating the use of DDT." Currently, the use of DDT is allowed to control malaria. At the meeting in May 2009, the Parties endorsed a DDT global partnership allowing countries to work cohesively towards eliminating all use of this insecticide.
In another move, a groundbreaking decision on synergies was unanimously adopted, marking the collaboration between the Stockholm Convention and its sister treaties on hazardous chemicals and wastes, the Rotterdam and Basel Conventions. The synergies decision sets in motion the establishment, on an interim basis, of joint services for administration and finance, public awareness, information management, legal issues, conference services and resource mobilization for the three Conventions. The decision, also calls for the convening of simultaneous extra-ordinary meetings of the COPs of the three Conventions in coordination with the 2010 meeting of the UNEP Governing Council Special Session/Global Environment Ministerial Forum. The meetings are scheduled to take place the week of 21-25 February 2010 in Bali, Indonesia.
For more information, please visit http://chm.pops.int and http://www.chem.unep.ch/pops/
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