Stockholm Convention UPSC

Stockholm Convention (POP)

Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is an international environmental treaty, signed in 2001 and effective from May 2004, that aims to eliminate or restrict the production and use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs).

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) called for global action to be taken on POPs, which it defined as “chemical substances that persist in the environment, bio-accumulate through the food web, and pose a risk of causing adverse effects to human health and the environment”.

DIRTY DOZEN:

Following this, the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS) and the International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) prepared an assessment of the 12 worst offenders, known as the dirty dozen.

Initially, twelve POPs have been recognized as causing adverse effects on humans and the ecosystem and these can be placed in 3 categories:

• Pesticides: 

aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, mirex, toxaphene;

• Industrial chemicals: 

hexachlorobenzene, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); and

• By-products: 

polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDF)

The convention entered into force on 17 May 2004 with ratification by an initial 128 parties and 151 signatories. 

Co-signatories agree to outlaw nine of the dirty dozen chemicals, limit the use of DDT to malaria control, and curtail inadvertent production of dioxins and furans.

In 2012, the Secretariats of the Basel and Stockholm conventions, as well as the UNEP-part of the Rotterdam Convention Secretariat, merged to a single Secretariat with a matrix structure serving the three conventions. The three conventions now hold back to back Conferences of the Parties as part of their joint synergies decisions.

The term “BRS Conventions” is a collective term for three different conventions viz. Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions. The purpose of clubbing these conventions was to ensure that a topic of common concern for the three Conventions is discussed.

The BRS Secretariat was formed with the objective of:

• Enhance our work with parties to bring about implementation of the conventions and synergies at the regional and national levels;

• Continue to deliver cost-effective and synergistic services to parties, including technical assistance, scientific support, legal and governance activities, information exchange and servicing of meetings;

• Develop and implement a resource mobilization strategy to facilitate national implementation of the conventions, in particular by developing countries, countries with economies in transition and small island developing states;

• Enlarge and strengthen cooperation with all relevant stakeholders, including with international bodies and industry through partnerships and an effective network of regional centres;

• Create further awareness to place chemicals and waste issues within the context of the global development and environment agenda.