Preventing, controlling and managing pollution is central to improving health, human well-being and prosperity for all.
UNEP drives capacity and leadership in sound management of chemicals and waste while working to improve ways to reduce waste through circularity and pollutants released to the air, water, soil and the ocean.
Despite great international efforts to curtail the toxic legacy of mercury such as the Minamata Convention on Mercury, the chemical element remains a threat human health.
Whether through the food we eat, the air we breathe or the cosmetics that we use, mercury is ubiquitous in our daily lives and large amounts of mercury can lead to serious health implications including tremors, insomnia, memory loss, headaches, muscle weakness, and—in extreme cases—death.
UNEP has been a leading voice in the efforts to limit the toxic trail left behind by mercury including its work on the Global Mercury Partnership, Eliminating Mercury Skin Lightening Products and the Global mercury monitoring.
Every year, an estimated 900,000 people die from lead exposure. Lead exposure can also result in an increased risk of antisocial behaviour, cardiovascular disease and reduced fertility.
Despite legally binding controls in 87 countries, lead is still commonly used in paint, and experts warn that it’s time to stop brushing aside the hazardous chemical’s human and environmental health impacts.
UNEP is taking the lead in addressing this critical issue by pushing for stricter legislation and providing technical support. Alongside the Global Environment Facility, UNEP recently published Lead Paint Reformulation Technical Guidelines to help manufacturers phase out lead.
As the second day of ICCM5 commences in Bonn, Germany, negotiators are busy discussing the final details of what is expected to be the adoption of a historic framework to address the production and management of chemicals around the world. Pierre Quiblier, Coordinator of the SAICM explains the importance of the framework being negotiated.
Many chemicals are allowed to flow freely into the environment, polluting land, sea and air, and, often, making people sick. Every year, 1 billion people are exposed to hazardous substances.
On the table at ICCM5 this week is an ambitious plan to address the environmental and human health risks emanating from the production and management of chemicals.
In this Q&A, UNEP’s Sheila Aggarwal-Khan talks about what is at stake at ICCM5 and the vital role that collaboration with the chemical industry plays in shaping a chemical-safe future.
“For ICCM-5 to deliver the ambition and strength needed to overcome the global toxic emergency facing humanity, it needs to explicitly embrace a human rights-based approach.”
That’s the message from UN experts in a statement released ahead of ICCM5.
While calling the conference a “once in a generation opportunity to deliver a robust outcome to confront the global toxic tide,” the experts also urged those attending the conference to be guided by human rights principles in line with a post-2020 global policy framework on the sound management of chemicals and wastes.
The ICCM5, organized by UNEP and hosted by the government of Germany has started.
The conference has a potential to be an important milestone with the expected adoption of an ambitious global framework on chemical and waste and the Bonn High-level Declaration on Chemicals and Waste. Watch the livestream of the opening ceremony.
The 5th session of the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM5) kicks off today in Bonn, Germany. Sheila Aggarwal-Khan, Director of UNEP’s Industry and Economy Division published an op-ed ahead of the start of conference. Aggarwal-Khan writes:
“Behind every statistic lies a personal tragedy — a worker exposed to toxic fumes, a child affected by water contamination, a community grappling with the aftermath of environmental degradation.”
ICCM5 offers a unique opportunity for governments, industries and the civil society to come together and embrace stringent regulatory frameworks for chemicals management.
The 2023 WMO Air Quality and Climate Bulletin reveal that climate change is increasing the intensity and frequency of heatwaves. This extreme heat, compounded by wildfires and desert dust, is having a measurable impact on air quality, human health and the environment.
Ahead of the third session of the intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC-3) to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, the INC Chair, as requested at INC-2, has prepared with the support of the INC Secretariat, and published a ‘Zero draft text of the international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment’ (UNEP/PP/INC.3/4). The text is guided by the views expressed at the committee’s first and second sessions and reflects the objective and mandate of United Nations Environment Assembly resolution 5/14.
Member States will be invited to start negotiations on the basis of the Zero Draft text at INC-3, which will take place from 13 to 19 November at UNEP’s Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.
The zero draft is initially available in an advanced version in English, with five additional languages to be published by 2 October 2023.
The Secretariat will also prepare a synthesis report of the submissions received on elements not discussed at the second session, such as principles and scope of the instrument, to be released in October.
只有12％的城市，其空气质量符合世卫组织的标准。
