All activities

BRS Press Release: The end of DDT?

Historic WHO announcement on a malaria vaccine, and recent recommendations of the Stockholm Convention’s Expert Group, give grounds for optimism that DDT could soon be phased out forever.

BRS Press Release: The end of DDT?

BRS Press Release: The end of DDT?
 
E-waste in the context of a sustainable digital transformation in Africa and in Latin America: webinars 28-30 September 2021

Join these webinars, organized by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), UNECE, BRS and other partners, discuss challenges and opportunities offered by a digital transformation.

E-waste in the context of a sustainable digital transformation in Africa and in Latin America: webinars 28-30 September 2021

E-waste in the context of a sustainable digital transformation in Africa and in Latin America: webinars 28-30 September 2021
 
BRS highlights interactions between plastic waste and food through social media campaign

Click to view the new social media cards, produced as a contribution to the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, 23 to 24 September, in New York and online.

BRS highlights interactions between plastic waste and food through social media campaign

BRS highlights interactions between plastic waste and food through social media campaign
 
Croatia transmits updated National Implementation Plan to reflect amendments made at Stockholm Convention COP-7 & COP-8

To better protect human health and environment, Croatia updates its national plan for implementing the Stockholm Convention.

Croatia transmits updated National Implementation Plan to reflect amendments made at Stockholm Convention COP-7 & COP-8

Croatia transmits updated National Implementation Plan to reflect amendments made at Stockholm Convention COP-7 & COP-8
 
Online Segment of 2021 Triple COPs successfully concludes with key decisions adopted

More than 1,300 representatives from more than 160 countries agree key decisions to keep work towards sound management of chemicals and waste on track.

Online Segment of 2021 Triple COPs successfully concludes with key decisions adopted

Online Segment of 2021 Triple COPs successfully concludes with key decisions adopted
 
2021 Triple COPs convened online with more than 1,000 delegates, 26 to 30 July

Read the official press release as more than 150 countries join the online segment of the 2021 meetings of the Conferences of Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam, & Stockholm conventions.

2021 Triple COPs convened online with more than 1,000 delegates, 26 to 30 July

2021 Triple COPs convened online with more than 1,000 delegates, 26 to 30 July
 
Story map: Plastic waste and the Basel Convention

Follow the plastic waste crisis as it unfolds around the world, with our dynamic data visualization map, and find out more about the role of the Basel Convention’s Plastic Waste Amendments in minimising and managing plastic waste.

Story map: Plastic waste and the Basel Convention

Story map: Plastic waste and the Basel Convention
 
BRS Triple COPs: Technical trials for registered participants of the online segment of the COPs, ahead of the meetings

Officially registered participants are invited to join technical trials on 21 July and 22 July to become familiar with the use of the meeting platforms.

BRS Triple COPs: Technical trials for registered participants of the online segment of the COPs, ahead of the meetings

BRS Triple COPs: Technical trials for registered participants of the online segment of the COPs, ahead of the meetings
 
Triple COPs 2021: Working documents, including budget documents for consideration by the COPs, available online in the 6 UN languages

Pre-session documents for the online segment of the Triple COPs, including the proposed interim programmes of work & proposed budgets for the conventions for 2022, now available.

Triple COPs 2021: Working documents, including budget documents for consideration by the COPs, available online in the 6 UN languages

Triple COPs 2021: Working documents, including budget documents for consideration by the COPs, available online in the 6 UN languages
 
Journalists: Cover the 2021 Triple COPs on the sound management of chemicals and waste

Accreditation process now open for correspondents seeking to attend the meetings of the Conferences of Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam & Stockholm conventions, (online segment) from 26 to 30 July 2021.

Journalists: Cover the 2021 Triple COPs on the sound management of chemicals and waste

Journalists: Cover the 2021 Triple COPs on the sound management of chemicals and waste
 
Photo exhibition on plastic waste open on Geneva waterfront and online

Photos from around the world showcased through live and virtual exhibitions, organised by the Basel Convention’s Plastic Waste Partnership, Geneva Environment Network, UNEP, Norway, and the City of Geneva.

Photo exhibition on plastic waste open on Geneva waterfront and online

Photo exhibition on plastic waste open on Geneva waterfront and online
 
Norway updates its national plan for implementing the Stockholm Convention

To help rid the world of persistent organic pollutants or POPs, Norway has transmitted its updated National Implementation Plan addressing amendments made at COP-8 & COP-9.

Norway updates its national plan for implementing the Stockholm Convention

Norway updates its national plan for implementing the Stockholm Convention
 
Seventeenth meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC.17) postponed

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic situation and following consultations with POPRC members, the Bureau of the Committee decided to postpone the POPRC-17 meeting to January 2022.

Seventeenth meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC.17) postponed

Seventeenth meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC.17) postponed
 
Second meeting of the Basel Convention Plastic Waste Partnership held online, 14 to 16 June 2021

Key online meeting of PWP pushes ahead actions to implement the plastic waste amendments and promote environmentally sound management of plastic waste globally.

Second meeting of the Basel Convention Plastic Waste Partnership held online, 14 to 16 June 2021

Second meeting of the Basel Convention Plastic Waste Partnership held online, 14 to 16 June 2021
 
Climate change and chemicals & waste combine to threaten biodiversity

New joint report by the BRS and Minamata conventions secretariats released to mark World Environment Day.

Climate change and chemicals & waste combine to threaten biodiversity

Climate change and chemicals & waste combine to threaten biodiversity
 
Twenty years after the Stockholm Convention was adopted, new monitoring reports confirm decreasing levels of certain POPs worldwide

The latest round of regional monitoring reports, which have greater data and geographical coverage than before, and which again confirm decreasing levels of certain POPs worldwide, are now online.

Twenty years after the Stockholm Convention was adopted, new monitoring reports confirm decreasing levels of certain POPs worldwide

Twenty years after the Stockholm Convention was adopted, new monitoring reports confirm decreasing levels of certain POPs worldwide
 
Opportunity to comment on draft risk profiles for UV-328 & Dechlorane Plus, and on draft risk management evaluation for methoxychlor, by 15 June 2021

In accordance with the workplan adopted at POPRC-16, Parties & observers are invited to review and provide comments on these drafts and related additional information, by 15 June 2021.

Opportunity to comment on draft risk profiles for UV-328 & Dechlorane Plus, and on draft risk management evaluation for methoxychlor, by 15 June 2021

Opportunity to comment on draft risk profiles for UV-328 & Dechlorane Plus, and on draft risk management evaluation for methoxychlor, by 15 June 2021
 
BRS Secretariat launches video series to celebrate Stockholm Convention’s 20th anniversary

Watch the first of the new video series “Twenty Voices for Twenty Years”, featuring Executive Secretary Rolph Payet.

BRS Secretariat launches video series to celebrate Stockholm Convention’s 20th anniversary

BRS Secretariat launches video series to celebrate Stockholm Convention’s 20th anniversary
 
Happy Birthday: The Stockholm Convention is 20 years young!

Read the BRS Press Release marking the 20th anniversary of the adoption, on 22 May 2001, of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

Happy Birthday: The Stockholm Convention is 20 years young!

Happy Birthday: The Stockholm Convention is 20 years young!

Geneva, Switzerland: 21 May 2021

Twenty years ago, on 22 May 2001, over 120 countries from around the world came together at a Conference in Stockholm, Sweden, to adopt the Stockholm Convention, in order to protect human health and the environment from Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). POPs are extremely toxic chemicals that are sometimes called ‘forever chemicals’ as they remain in our bodies and the environment for decades and can disperse over thousands of miles on land, our atmosphere and oceans. Exposure to POPs has been proven to lead to serious health effects including certain cancers, birth defects, dysfunctional immune and reproductive systems, greater susceptibility to disease, and damages to the central and peripheral nervous systems.

Today, the Stockholm Convention with 184 Parties, is legally binding and enjoys almost universal coverage. Of these Parties, 173 have submitted National Implementation Plans, outlining concrete steps each government should take to phase out the use and production of POPs.

In addition to the original 12 POPs listed upon adoption - the so-called “Dirty Dozen” including DDT - a further 18 toxic chemicals or chemical groups have been listed, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which is common in many household items such as furniture and non-stick cooking pans, totalling some 4,000 chemicals in all. PFOA, like many other POPs, is known to be linked to major health problems including kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid disease and hypertension in pregnancy.

The Convention’s Global Monitoring Programme shows that for those initial 12 POPs, concentrations measured in air and in human populations have declined and continue to decline or remain at low levels, proving beyond any doubt that international legally binding treaties do work in addressing global environmental issues.

More chemicals are currently under review, including the plastic additive UV-328, a ubiquitous high-volume additive typically used as an ultra-violet (UV) stabiliser in plastic products such as some personal care products, rubber and coatings. Found in the environment and biota, including in remote areas such as the Arctic and the Pacific Ocean, far from its production and use, UV-328 has been found to be transported with, and may consequently be released from plastic waste dumped in the oceans, which is taken up, for example by seabirds with subsequent accumulation in their tissue, and also as  microplastics. It is expected that possible future listing of this additive would strengthen the Stockholm Convention’s role as one of the key international treaties, alongside the Basel Convention, in tackling the growing plastic waste crisis.

In opening a celebratory series of short videos marking the anniversary entitled “Twenty Voices for Twenty Years”, Rolph Payet, Executive Secretary of the Stockholm Convention, said that “Today is a moment to acknowledge and take stock of what is possible when the global community comes together with the political will and resources to solve environmental problems. I’m proud of the achievements of the Stockholm Convention, and thank all Parties and observers, as well as the Global Environment Facility (GEF) as the financial mechanism, and the 16 regional centres around the world, for their contributions and commitments to strengthen the Stockholm Convention in its ongoing work. In addressing the negative impacts of some of the most toxic chemicals produced worldwide, there remains an urgent need to tackle the global plastic waste pollution crisis, and the challenge of reversing the loss of our planet’s biodiversity, which undermines ecosystem functioning and ultimately life itself.”

Notes for Editors:

POPs and the Stockholm Convention

The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, adopted in 2001 and entering into force in 2004, is a global treaty requiring its Parties to take measures to eliminate or reduce the release of POPs into the environment, to protect human health and the environment from chemicals that remain intact 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. Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) can lead to serious adverse health effects including certain cancers, birth defects, dysfunctional immune and reproductive systems, greater susceptibility to disease and damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems. Given that these chemicals can be transported over long distances, no one government acting alone can protect its citizens or its environment from POPs.

For more information on the Stockholm Convention, POPs, and POPRC: www.chm.pops.int

Contacts:

Technical contact: Maria-Cristina Cardenas, BRS Secretariat; email: maria-cristina.cardenas@un.org tel: +41-22-9178201

Press contact: Charlie Avis, BRS Secretariat; email: Charles.avis@un.org tel: +41-79-7304495

BRS and Minamata convention secretariats release “Key Insights” from joint study linking chemicals and waste and biodiversity

As the world marks International Biodiversity Day on 22 May, read the joint BRS/Minamata Press Release and find out more about this ground-breaking study.

BRS and Minamata convention secretariats release “Key Insights” from joint study linking chemicals and waste and biodiversity

BRS and Minamata convention secretariats release “Key Insights” from joint study linking chemicals and waste and biodiversity
 
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