COP Decisions

The Conference of the Parties,
[...] 1. Agrees to initiate arrangements to provide itself with comparable monitoring data on which to base its evaluation of the effectiveness of the Convention analysing among other possibilities the proposed annex II to the note by the Secretariat on effectiveness evaluation;

2. Requests the Secretariat to make use of existing monitoring programmes and datasets where possible in providing the Conference of the Parties with comparable monitoring data;

3. Invites relevant organizations to collaborate in the above arrangements with a view to making monitoring data available for evaluation of the effectiveness of the Convention;

4. Requests the Secretariat to field test the arrangements set out in paragraph 1 above on a national or regional basis subject to available funding, and report the results of the field test to the Conference of the Parties at its third meeting;

5. Requests the Secretariat to develop a background scoping paper for a global monitoring plan for consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its second meeting, which includes the following elements:
Assessment of existing human health and environmental datasets;
Identification of regional data gaps;
Assessment of the applicability of existing monitoring programmes within regions as a platform for the global programme;
Priorities to implement the plan;
Cost estimates for options to implement recommended priorities.

1. Takes note of the report of the meeting of the coordination group and encourages Parties when implementing activities under the global monitoring plan to consider the recommendations put forward in the report of the co-chairs of the coordination group;
2. Welcomes the regional monitoring reports and the global monitoring report and concludes that there are data on air and human milk or blood available in all five United Nations regions that can be used as a baseline for future evaluations, noting that not all data were available in time to be included in the monitoring reports;
3. Acknowledges the additional information on human tissue data presented at the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties and requests the Secretariat in cooperation with the regional organization groups to include those data in annexes to the first regional monitoring reports;
4. Adopts the global monitoring plan for persistent organic pollutants that was provisionally adopted at its third meeting and requests the Secretariat to make non substantive changes as necessary;
5. Also adopts the terms of reference and mandate of the regional organization groups and the global coordination group set forth in the annex to the present decision;

[...]Annex to decision SC-4/31
Terms of reference and mandate of the regional organization groups and the global coordination group

Having considered the note by the Secretariat on effectiveness evaluation,

Recognizing that the work required for each effectiveness evaluation is conducted in two stages,

The Conference of the Parties

1. Takes note of the reports of the meetings of the ad hoc working group on effectiveness evaluation;
2. Also takes note of the proposed framework for effectiveness evaluation;
3. Requests the Secretariat to collect and compile the information outlined in the proposed framework and to use the elements and indicators set forth therein to prepare a report for consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its sixth meeting;

The Conference of the Parties

1. Takes note of the report of the meeting of the global coordination group and encourages parties, when implementing activities under the global monitoring plan, to consider the recommendations put forward in the report of the co-chairs of the coordination group;
2. Welcomes the revisions made to the guidance on the global monitoring plan;
3. Requests the Secretariat to continue to support the continuing process of revising and updating that guidance, subject to the availability of resources;

The Conference of the Parties

1. Takes note of the comments submitted by parties on the proposed framework for effectiveness evaluation and of the report prepared by the Secretariat on the availability of information outlined in the revised framework for effectiveness evaluation and on the use of the elements and indicators set forth therein;

The Conference of the Parties

1. Takes note of the report of the meeting of the global coordination group and regional organization groups and welcomes the conclusions and recommendations of the global coordination group;

The Conference of the Parties

1. Elects, in accordance with the terms of reference set out in the appendix to the framework for effectiveness evaluation, the following members to serve on the effectiveness evaluation committee until the close of the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties:

From African States: Ms. Elham Refaat Abdel Aziz (Egypt)

The Conference of the Parties

1. Takes note of the reports of the meetings of the global coordination group and regional organization groups and welcomes the conclusions and recommendations of the global coordination group;

2. Welcomes the updated guidance on the global monitoring plan and encourages parties to use it and provide comments on their experience in doing so to the Secretariat through the regional organization groups;

The Conference of the Parties

Mindful of the purpose of the effectiveness evaluation, namely, to assess whether the Convention has succeeded in achieving its objective of protecting human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants,

Recognizing that conclusions and recommendations by the effectiveness evaluation committee as to the effectiveness of specific measures of the Convention to achieve its objective have an impact on all elements of the Convention and are useful in informing the relevant processes and mechanisms under the Convention,

The Conference of the Parties

Noting the priority areas for action recognized in decision SC-8/18 on effectiveness evaluation as they relate to the global monitoring plan,

1. Takes note of the report on the meetings of the global coordination group;

The Conference of the Parties

1. Adopts the revised framework for effectiveness evaluation;

2. Requests the Secretariat to prepare a preliminary report to facilitate the evaluation of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, using the information obtained from existing arrangements under the Stockholm Convention, along with any other relevant information, and to make it available to the effectiveness evaluation committee following the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, by 31 January 2022.

The Conference of the Parties

1. Takes note of the report of the meeting of the global coordination group and the regional organization groups, including the regional strategies for implementation of the third phase of the global monitoring plan, setting out monitoring arrangements and timelines for the completion of the third regional monitoring reports, and of the report by the United Nations Environment Programme on sustainable monitoring in the framework of the global monitoring plan;

The Conference of the Parties

I Effectiveness evaluation committee

1. Elects, in accordance with the terms of reference set out in the annex to the framework for the effectiveness evaluation of the Stockholm Convention, the following 10 members to serve on the effectiveness evaluation committee of the Convention until the closure of the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties:

The Conference of the Parties

Recalling decision SC-10/4 entitled “Interim programme of work and budget for the Stockholm Convention for 2022”, whereby it, among other things, took note of the information on the modalities for the continuation of the intersessional work and processes of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants emanating from the decisions of the Conference of the Parties at its ninth and previous meetings, including the work of the subsidiary bodies, to be implemented until the end of 2022, in accordance with the interim budget for the Convention for the year 2022,

The Conference of the Parties,

Recalling decision SC-10/4 entitled “Interim programme of work and budget for the Stockholm Convention for 2022”, whereby it, among other things, took note of the information on the modalities for the continuation of the intersessional work and processes of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants emanating from the decisions of the Conference of the Parties at its ninth and previous meetings, including the work of the subsidiary bodies, to be implemented until the end of 2022, in accordance with the interim budget for the Convention for the year 2022,

The Conference of the Parties

Mindful of the purpose of the effectiveness evaluation, namely, to assess whether the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants has succeeded in achieving its objective of protecting human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants,

The Conference of the Parties,

Noting the priority areas for action recognized in decision SC-11/17, on effectiveness evaluation, as they relate to the global monitoring plan,

1. Takes note of the report of the meeting of the global coordination group and the information from the United Nations Environment Programme on its support for the global monitoring plan;