The public symposium “Future Action of Science and Policy on Global Chemicals Management towards 2030 Agenda and Beyond” was organised in Toyama, Japan on June 13-16, 2022, by three Societies on Environmental Chemicals, Japan Society of Environmental Chemistry (JEC), Japan Society of Endocrine Disruptors Research (JSEDR), and Japan Society of Environmental Toxicology (JSET).
The WSSD 2020 Goal “…by 2020, … chemicals are used and produced in ways that lead to the minimisation of significant adverse effects on human health and the environment, …” set at the World Summit for Sustainable Development 2002, Johannesburg, has long been an ultimate global framework for the management of chemicals in the environment.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) became the new framework. In 2022, new directions after WSSD 2020 Goal for chemicals and waste management are under international discussion. In March 2022, two important resolutions were adopted at the UNEA (United Nations Environment Assembly), namely: the kick-off of the process for preparing an international legally binding instrument for plastics and another for the Science-Policy Panel on the sound management of chemicals and wastes. The two resolutions will be used as the starting point for future chemicals and waste management. The three societies for environmental chemicals in Japan will intend to play substantial roles in the scientific research in this field. A special focus of the meeting was also put on the Science-Policy Dialogues, the contemporary challenges and ways to make a more effective collaboration of policy-makers and academia to address the current and future impacts of plastics on human beings and the environment.
This hybrid-style event brought together over 180 participants (both in person and online) from Japan and other countries and set the scene for the entire symposium. NOWPAP was invited to the symposium, and the NOWPAP Coordinator, Dr. Yegor Volovik, contributed to the meeting as a moderator of the plenary discussion.
During the plenary session, a series of presentations were delivered illustrating various perspectives on waste management, including international organisations (UNEP represented by the International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC) located in Osaka and NOWPAP RCU located in Toyama), the Ministry of Environment of Japan, several research bodies and universities dealing with various aspects of waste management. The plenary session included the following types of lectures:
· Representatives of UNEP, and the Ministry of the Environment, Japan, paid specific attention to the global frameworks and directions of chemicals and waste management,
· Then representatives of three societies in Japan presented key results and future directions of the sciences of environmental chemicals.
The panel discussion that followed a series of presentations was seen as a unique opportunity for a general discussion and outlining the future direction in cooperation among global and national frameworks and sciences.
In addition, this symposium marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of UNEP and also the 30th anniversary of JEC. It will continue working in various groups and sessions for the following three days, June 14-16, 2022.
