The second Conference of the Parties (COP.2) to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) was held from 1-5 May 2006, in Geneva, Switzerland.
COP.2 considered several reports on activities within the Convention’s mandate and adopted 18 decisions on, inter alia, DDT, exemptions, financial resources and mechanisms, implementation plans, technical assistance, synergies and effectiveness evaluation.
Delegates had hoped to bring the cooperative COP.1 “spirit of Punta Del Este” to Geneva, and looked forward to a straightforward meeting. Instead, each day was longer than the last as contact groups used all available time to move forward in negotiating intricate details of processes and mechanisms necessary to support progress towards meeting the obligations of the Convention. Two key decisions, in particular, were prerequisites for success at COP.2: the first review of the effectiveness of the financial mechanism of the Convention and a process to enable evaluation of the effectiveness of the Convention at COP.4, in 2009. With the adoption of these decisions, COP.2 has moved closer to the goal of eliminating or reducing the release of POPs into the environment. *)
*) Text extracted from the ENB Vol. 15 No. 135 of Monday, 9 May 2006, published by IISD