April 2001
New Stockholm Convention to Protect
Wildlife and People from POPs
By Clifton Curtis & Cynthia Palmer Olsen
On 21-23 May 2001, diplomats from around the world
will gather in Stockholm, Sweden, to sign the Stockholm
Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). The
new treaty, one of many important initiatives growing out
of the 1992 Earth Summit, represents the most ambitious
effort by the global community, to date, to rein in and
ultimately halt the proliferation of toxic chemicals.
Unlike other chemical treaties that rely on notification
requirements or end-of-pipe pollution controls, the new
convention calls for outright banning and destruction. The
treaty is designed to eliminate or severely restrict
production and use of a pernicious group of pesticides and
industrial chemicals; ensure environmentally sound
management and chemical transformation of POPs waste;
and prevent the emergence of new chemicals with POPslike characteristics.
The treaty targets some of the world’s most dangerous
chemicals (Table 1). Persistent organic pollutants pose a
particular hazard because of four common characteristics:
they are toxic; they are persistent, resisting normal
processes that break down contaminants, they accumulate
in the body fat of people, marine mammals and other
animals and are passed from mother to fetus; and they can
travel great distances – typically from temperate and
tropical regions to the poles – on wind and water currents.
Even small quantities of POPs can wreak havoc in human
and animal tissue, causing nervous system damage,
diseases of the immune system, reproductive and
developmental disorders and cancers.
The POPs treaty was finalized last December by
consensus of the 122 negotiating governments, with the
support of both the chemical industry trade associations
and environmental/public health groups including the
more than 300 non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
participating in the International POPs Elimination
Network. WWF and other NGOs are pleased with many
elements of the treaty. These include its embrace of
precaution in the face of uncertainty about the nature and
extent of toxic chemical threats; the requirement that
developed country parties provide new and additional
financial resources so that all nations can participate in
treaty implementation; the appeal to parties to prevent the
production and use of new POPs chemicals; the
elimination goal for dioxins and other byproduct POPs;
the call for substitute products and processes rather than
reliance on pollution scrubbers and filters; and the
presumption that all parties agree to control new POPs
added to treaty annexes.
Key elements of the Stockholm POPs
Convention include:
Precaution as the guiding principle. Precaution,
including transparency and public participation, is
operationalised throughout the treaty, with explicit
references in the preamble, objective, provisions for
adding POPs and determination of best available
technologies. The objective states: “Mindful of the
precautionary approach as set forth in Principle 15 of the
Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, the
objective of this Convention is to protect human health
and the environment from persistent organic pollutants.”
Funding commitments enabling all countries
to participate. Developed country parties commit to
providing new and additional financial resources to
developing country parties and parties with economies in
transition. Adequacy, predictability and timely flow of
funds are essential. The treaty calls for regular review by
the Conference of parties of both the level of funding and
the effectiveness of performance of the institutions
entrusted with the treaty’s financial operations. On an
interim basis, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) will
serve as the treaty’s principal financial mechanism.
Eliminating intentionally produced POPs. Of 12
targeted POPs, eight are pesticides, most of which are
slated for immediate bans once the treaty takes effect. A
longer phase-out is planned for certain PCB uses. DDT
provisions include the goal of ultimate elimination,
limiting use to disease vector control in accordance with
WHO guidelines. The treaty calls for research,
development and implementation of safe, effective and
affordable alternatives to DDT. Parties that have
regulatory and assessment schemes for new chemicals are
called on to “take measures to regulate with the aim of
preventing” the production and use of any new POPs.
Ultimately eliminating byproduct POPs. For
dioxins, furans and hexachlorobenzene, parties are called
on to reduce total releases “with the goal of their
continuing minimisation and, where feasible, ultimate
elimination”. Rather than rely on end-of-pipe pollution
control technologies, the treaty urges the use of substitute
or modified materials, products and processes to prevent
the formation and release of by-product POPs.
Environmentally sound management and
disposal of POPs wastes (including stockpiles,
products, articles in use and materials contaminated with
POPs). The POP content in waste is to be destroyed,
irreversibly transformed, or, in very limited situations,
otherwise disposed of in an environmentally sound
manner in co-ordination with Basel Convention
requirements.
Table 1. The UNEP “Dirty Dozen” POPs
Persistent Organic
Pollutant
Date of
introduction
Definition and primary application
Aldrin
1949
Chlordane
DDT
Dieldrin
1945
1942
1948
Endrin
Heptachlor
1951
1948
Hexachlorobenzene
1945
Mirex
1959
Toxaphene
1948
PCBs
1929
Dioxins
1920s
Furans
1920s
Insecticide used against soil pests (primarily termites) on
corn, cotton and potatoes.
Insecticide now used primarily for termite control
Insecticide now used mainly against mosquitoes.
Insecticide used on fruit, soil and seed crops, including corn,
cotton and potatoes.
Rodenticide and insecticide used on cotton, rice and corn
Insecticide used against soil insects, especially termites. Also
used against fire ants and mosquitoes.
Fungicide. Also a byproduct of pesticide manufacturing and a
contaminant of other pesticide products.
Insecticide used on ants and termites. One of the most
stable and persistent pesticides. Also a fire retardant.
Insecticide used especially against ticks and mites. A mixture
of up to 670 chemicals.
Used primarily in capacitors and transformers, and in
hydraulic and heat transfer systems. Also used in
weatherproofing, carbon less copy paper, paint, adhesives
and plasticizers in synthetic resins.
Byproducts of combustion (especially of plastics) and of
chlorine product manufacturing and paper bleaching.
Byproducts, especially of PCB manufacturing, often with
dioxins.
Source: Anne Platt McGinn, Why Poison Ourselves? A Precautionary Approach to Synthetic Chemicals, Worldwatch Paper
153, November 2000.
Strict limitations and bans on trade. Trade in
POPs is allowed only for the purpose of environmentally
sound disposal or in other very limited circumstances
where the importing State provides certification of its
environmental and human health commitments and its
compliance with the POPs treaty’s waste provisions.
Delegates rejected a proposed World Trade Organisation
“supremacy clause” that could have encouraged States to
challenge the treaty’s trade-related measures.
and following the Stockholm Diplomatic Conference we
will urge government officials and other stakeholders to:
(a) Expedite ratification of the POPs Convention by at
least 50 countries so that it can enter into force before the
end of 2002. High-level government officials and others
can elect to make statements at the Conference -- this will
be a prime occasion for nations to declare their intent to
pursue early ratification of the treaty. WWF is calling on
governments to sign and ratify the Convention prior to the
Rio+10 World Summit on Sustainable Development in
2002. More broadly, the Rio+10 Summit in Johannesburg
offers a very special opportunity for nations to announce
their ratifications of a package of chemicals-related
treaties that will make the world a safer place for current
and future generations:
Limited and transparent exemptions. Most
exemptions to the treaty requirements are chemical- and
country-specific. But there are broader exceptions for use
in laboratory-scale research; for small quantities in the
possession of an end-user; and for quantities occurring as
unintentional trace contaminants in products. Notification
procedures and other conditions apply to exemptions for
POPs as constituents of manufactured articles and for
certain closed-system site-limited intermediates.
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The World Wide Fund for Nature/World Wildlife Fund
(WWF), a lead NGO in the important and sometimes very
contentious negotiations, welcomes the POPs treaty as a
giant step forward. But it is only a first step - vigilance
must continue, both preceding entry into force and
throughout the implementation phase. Prior to, during,
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the Stockholm POPs Convention (for which
ratifications can commence after 23 May 2001);
the Rotterdam PIC Convention (13 ratifications, to
date, of 50 required);
the Basel Convention (145 ratifications thus far) and
its 1995 ban on the export of hazardous wastes from
OECD to non-OECD countries (24 ratifications, to
date, of 62 required); and
•
the 1996 Protocol to the 1972 London Convention on
ocean dumping (13 ratifications, to date, of 26
required -- of which 15 must be parties to the LC).
implementing treaty elements early and with respect to
adopting more stringent environmental and public health
measures than those required by the treaty. The upcoming
ceremonies in Stockholm offer an auspicious start to such
efforts: Sweden ranks as one of the world’s leaders in
advancing policies that substitute safe alternatives in
place of toxic chemicals, hold corporations accountable
for the pollution they create, and advocate precaution
where scientific evidence suggests toxic threats to wildlife
or people.
(b) Make significant new commitments to provide
technical and financial assistance to developing countries
and countries with economies in transition. Such
assistance by developed/donor governments is critical to
ensure full and effective participation both preceding and
following the treaty’s entry into force. WWF supports
draft resolutions calling for the GEF to establish a
chemicals “focal area” and for GEF Trust Fund donors to
contribute additional financial resources so that the GEF
can effectively perform its POPs treaty mandate. We also
endorse resolutions calling on States and regional
economic integration organisations to make voluntary
contributions to the UNEP Trust Fund for interim
activities, and to provide direct technical and financial
assistance for treaty implementation, including training,
infrastructure development and capacity building.
Effective implementation of the POPs treaty will require
the hard work, wisdom and resources of governments,
industry, NGOs and other stakeholders. Although many
challenges lie ahead, it’s gratifying to start off the new
millennium knowing that a solid foundation has been put
in place, on to which further reforms can be made in the
ongoing effort to protect and conserve life on Earth.
If you have any enquiries regarding the
content of this article, please contact:
Cynthia Palmer Olsen
World Wildlife Fund
1250 24th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037-1132
USA
(c) Examine additional chemicals for early inclusion in
the treaty. The Stockholm Conference will consider draft
resolutions directing the Intergovernmental Negotiating
Committee to establish an interim POPs Review
Committee. That subsidiary body should be authorised to
begin – before the treaty’s entry into force – the screening
of additional POPs candidates for listing in annexes A, B
or C. WWF applauds efforts to get a “head start” in
reviewing candidate POPs, recognising that no decisions
on adding chemicals can be made until after the treaty is
in force. To facilitate such review, the chemical industry
needs to develop and disseminate data on chemical
persistence and bioaccumulation, information that is
urgently needed but often not available.
Tel: +1 (202) 778-9562
Fax: +1 (202) 530-0743
E-mail: palmer.olsen@wwfus.org
www.panda.org/toxics
This article was printed in Sustainable
Development International, Spring 2001 Edition,
www.sustdev.org
Possible additions to the POPs treaty would include four
chemicals listed in the regionally-focused United Nations
Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention
on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution’s (LRTAP)
Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants: the insecticide
chlordecone (kepone); the pesticide
hexachlorocyclohexane (which includes lindane);
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons released in the burning
of oil, coal and other organic materials; and
hexabromobiphenyl, a fire retardant additive. Other
chemicals or groups of substances which warrant
immediate scrutiny for possible future inclusion in the
POPs treaty include pentabrominated diphenyl ether, a
flame retardant; polychlorinated napthalenes used in
capacitors, electrical insulators and as engine oil
additives; substances which break down into
perfluorooctanyl sulfonate; ochtachlorostyrene, an
unwanted byproduct; and endosulfan, an insecticide.
(d) Take national, regional and private sector actions that
go beyond treaty provisions, both in terms of
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