EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S SPEECH

AT

THE CONFERENCE OF THE PLENIPOTENTIARIES

FOR

THE STOCKHOLM CONVENTION ON PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS, STOCKHOLM

 

 

 

Prime Minister Persson, Minister Larsson, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

It is my great pleasure to welcome you here to Stockholm today for the Conference of Plenipotentiaries for the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

 

I thank the Government of the Kingdom of Sweden for its generous invitation to host this meeting and for the warmth of its welcome and its hospitality.  I am pleased and honoured that my distinguished colleague Kjell Larsson is closely associated with this important meeting. As always, we appreciate his commitment, his vision, his readiness to look beyond the standard answers and his kind and gentle personality that makes us all feel so particularly welcome to Stockholm and to this great event.  I am also deeply honoured by the presence of Mr. Göran Persson, Prime Minister of Sweden and President of the European Union at the opening ceremony of our Conference, further proof if proof is needed that the environment is a Swedish priority issue during its Presidency and beyond.

 

The recent bill from the Swedish government to the Swedish Parliament on a Chemicals Strategy for a Non-Toxic Environment is perhaps the most striking example to date of strategic thinking and long term policy making in environmental management at the national level.

 

Sweden had already submitted its invitation to host this Conference at the 19^th session of the Governing Council.  That  confirms Sweden’s foresight and leadership on environment and development issues, and illustrates its confidence that other governments would share its sense of urgency in dealing with the threat from POPs.

 

I wish to express my full appreciation for Sweden’s support to the POPs negotiating process. I would like to note also that some of the earliest and most crucial scientific discoveries related to POPs were made in this very city. It is indeed appropriate that you honour Stockholm and Sweden by naming this convention the “Stockholm Convention” after the beautiful and well-known Swedish capital.

 

I would also like to thank the Governments of Canada, Kenya, Switzerland, Germany and South Africa for hosting the negotiating sessions leading up to this important event, and the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Government of Austria for hosting successful criteria expert group meetings.  And finally I would like to express our great appreciation to all the Governments and non-governmental organizations that supported the entire negotiation process through the POPs: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Commission, and the International POPs Elimination Network. Without this support we would not be here today to adopt and sign the Stockholm Convention.

 

The convention you will adopt today represents an important step in solving the serious health and environmental problems caused by hazardous chemicals.  I do not need to remind you of the harmful effects of POPs – your knowledge of them and concern for their global impact has provided the sense of urgency throughout the negotiations.

 

This convention boasts strong provisions to reduce and eliminate releases of POPs to the environment.  Among other things, it will eliminate the production of POPs that have been intentionally produced.  It will identify and remove polychlorinated biphenyls from use.  It will restrict DDT use to disease vector control in accordance with WHO guidelines.  It will minimize and, where feasible, ultimately eliminate those POPs formed as unintentional byproducts.  It will eliminate releases of POPs from stockpiles and wastes.  It also calls for preventing the production and use of new pesticides or new industrial chemicals that exhibit the characteristics of persistent organic pollutants.

 

All of these strong control provisions are balanced with provisions to enable the full participation of developing countries and countries with economies in transition.  You have agreed that new and additional financial resources shall be provided to enable developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition to meet the agreed full incremental costs of implementing measures which fulfill their obligations under this Convention.  While the financial mechanism for the convention once it enters into force will be decided upon by the Conference of the Parties, you have entrusted the Global Environment Facility with the crucial role of being its interim financial mechanism.  The articles on financial assistance are also complemented by an article that calls for the provision of technical assistance and the promotion of technology transfer.

 

The convention itself deals comprehensively with POPs.  But it should not be seen in isolation.  It is part of a larger framework of legal instruments and organizations that are together trying to solve the growing toxic chemical and hazardous waste threats that face our planet.  Clearly, the Stockholm Convention must work closely with the Rotterdam and Basel conventions.  And, just as importantly, there is collaboration needed with regional instruments such as the regional seas conventions and the UNECE’s Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution Convention and its POPs Protocol.  Collaboration must be there at all levels – among the COPs, the governments and the Secretariats.  There is no scope for compartmentalism and turf battles if we are to be successful. I am pleased that within UNEP we have already taken significant steps to improve coordination and cooperation among the Secretariats.

 

Similarly, many intergovernmental organizations have a role to play in addressing POPs and chemical safety.  The World Health Organization has a crucial role to play, and we must expect the WHO “Roll Back Malaria” programme and the Stockholm Convention to work hand-in-hand in addressing issues related to the use of DDT for disease vector control.  Similarly, the Food and Agriculture Organization has a key role in identifying and cleaning up stockpiles of POPs pesticides, and promoting the use of sustainable alternatives to the use of POPs.  I’m pleased to also note that UNEP and the World Bank have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate on POPs, with a focus on building capacities in developing countries and countries with economies in transition.  These are just a few examples, but we should also expect that other IGOs such as ILO, UNIDO, UNDP and UNITAR will have important roles in POPs elimination.

 

There are other stakeholders who deserve particular recognition for their efforts on POPs as well.  I note the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety, which played a vital role in making the recommendations adopted by the 19^th Governing Council.  I look forward to our continued cooperation.  Industry associations have participated and contributed throughout the process.  The environmental NGO community has also participated strongly.  I understand that the International POPs Elimination Network now has more than 350 NGO groups as part of the network.  These NGOs have made many positive contributions to the negotiations.  I will note one group especially – the Inuit Circumpolar Conference.  At the second INC at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, the ICC presented me with a statue of an Inuit mother and child.  This statue has served as the symbol of the POPs negotiations, reminding us all that we are preserving this, and future generations from the threat of POPs.

 

The negotiations were marked by openness, transparency and inclusiveness.  These are three principles that I embrace, and will continue to encourage as UNEP provides the secretariat for the Stockholm Convention.

 

Distinguished Delegates,

 

The adoption and signature of the Stockholm Convention on POPs will not be enough. It needs to be followed by formal ratification by Governments as early as possible. Meanwhile the interim measures will have to be implemented in an effective manner through concerted action by Governments and relevant international organizations.  In this regard, I am looking forward to continuing the excellent collaboration UNEP has had with the GEF over the last years in implementing important projects on POPs and persistent toxic substances. I expect to be working even more intensively with GEF during the interim phase, as the support of GEF in the interim period will be crucial. 

 

There will also be the need to continue the considerable bilateral and multilateral support to promote implementation of the conventions, including the establishment and operation of the Interim Secretariat.  I note that several countries have added POPs as a priority in their bilateral assistance programmes, while others have elected to support country-based activities through trust funds in UNEP or the World Bank.  I can tell you that I applaud all of these new initiatives.

 

In the near term, developing implementation plans will be a priority for countries.  These should be started quickly, as they will tell countries what steps they will need to take to ratify the Stockholm Convention.  These plans will also describe what each party will need to do in order to comply with the convention once it enters into force, and will point to priority assistance needs for developing countries and countries with economies in transition.  In this regard, I’m pleased to inform you that the GEF has recently approved a UNEP project to assist 12 countries in developing their implementation plans.  UNEP stands ready to assist other countries in this important endeavour.

 

We will all have many tasks to accomplish on POPs in the coming days.  We must build upon the momentum created during the negotiating process and continue our capacity building efforts to assist countries in taking the first steps towards implementing the convention.  In addition to the extensive capacity building which must take place, the secretariat must also begin preparations for an entirely new process, that of the POPs review committee, which we will begin in earnest as soon as possible.

 

While the focus of today and tomorrow is on POPs, we should also take the opportunity to reflect on the broader chemicals agenda.  Today, the pace of growth in the global chemical industry is astounding. There are between 70,000 and 100,000 different chemicals on the market. And 1,500 new ones are being introduced every year.

 

We have many reasons to be thankful to the chemical industry and the substances it produces. Without its help, it would be impossible for us to feed our growing populations, find cures for diseases and discover new materials to make our lives easier, safer and more productive.

 

Chemicals today are now a part of our daily existence.   Some of these chemicals, and notable among them the POPs, are implicated in various disorders and diseases, including cancer, reproductive effects, birth defects, neurobehavioral disorders and impaired immune functions. And as we have been reminded by the more that 350 environmental non-governmental organizations that have been represented as part of the POPs negotiations, these problems are global – affecting peoples in the arctic such as the Inuit – as well as local – affecting people in developing countries and countries with economies in transition who are unknowingly exposed to dangerous chemicals in their daily lives.

 

This convention shows that for POPs, economic development and care for the environment are compatible, interdependent and necessary.  The same is possibly true for the wider group of chemicals of concern.  However, a strategic approach would allow chemicals to be part of our pursuit of sustainable development, enabling high productivity, modern technology and economic development to co-exist with a healthy environment and with healthy people.  The UNEP Governing Council agreed that at the Global Ministerial Environmental Forum next year it would consider the need for a strategic approach to international chemicals management.  The UNEP GC intiative is timely and will enable us to consider more adequately the potential contribution of chemicals to sustainable development as we approach Rio+10.

 

Excellencies and Distinguished Delegates, this Convention marks the success of the international community in finding an appropriate and lasting solution to the serious health and environmental problems resulting from persistent organic pollutants,.   As John Buccini, the Chair of the negotiations said after the final negotiating session in Johannesburg – “this treaty is a declaration of war on POPs.”

 

I wish you the greatest success in your ceremony to adopt and sign the new Stockholm Convention.

 

Thank you very much.