Transcript UNITAR Global Thematic Workshop on Governance, Civil Society Participation and Strengthening Partnerships for Chemicals and Waste Management and SAICM Implementation The Role, Benefits and Expectations of.

UNITAR
Global Thematic Workshop on Governance, Civil Society
Participation and Strengthening Partnerships for
Chemicals and Waste Management and SAICM
Implementation
The Role, Benefits and Expectations
of Public Interest NGOs in SAICM
Dr Mariann Lloyd-Smith CoChair,
International POPs Elimination Network
[email protected]
http://www.oztoxics.org
International POPs Elimination Network
Global non-profit network of 350 public interest NGOs in
65 countries working for elimination of POPs & toxic
chemicals of similar concern


effective implementation of Stockholm Convention & other
chemical MEAs
active participants in SAICM
SAICM - strong global consensus of urgent need
integrated approach / national & international coordination
HLD - acknowledge problems & enhances profile of chemical
management
OPS – principles / framework
GPA - strategies / tools
WSSD 2020 goal
Role of Public Interest Organisations in
Chemicals Management
“Non-governmental public health and environmental
organizations, trade unions and other civil society organizations
have made important contributions to the promotion of chemical
safety”
- SAICM High Level Declaration 2006
“We work with representatives of civil society, seeking to draw on
their expertise and local knowledge of industrial chemicals
(including hazards, exposure, controls and use), and ensure their
equitable involvement in chemical decisions that affect them.”
- NICNAS Community Engagement Charter 2005-06
NGOs essential to environmentally sound chemical management
“right to participate meaningfully in decisions about chemical
safety that affect them”
- Bahia Declaration on Chemical Safety 2000
NGO Contributions to Chemicals Management
International POPs Elimination Project (IPEP)
Aims :
 enhance NGOs skills & knowledge as stakeholders
 establish regional & national NGO capacity
Medium-sized GEF project
 200 NGOs in 64 DC/EITs / 8 Regional Hubs
290 activities : POPs country situation reports, mapping POPs
stockpiles & contaminated sites, promoting cleanup & disposal,
documenting POPs use, sampling soil, eggs, fish, people,
investigating new POPs, worker & civil society awareness raising
& waste prevention
Multi-lingual website - http://www.oztoxics.org/ipepweb/
Outcomes:
 awareness & knowledge about POPs & chemical issues
 NGO / civil society capacity to address chemical management
 contribute to ratification & NIPs
NGO Contributions cont…..
‘The Egg Report, Contamination of chicken eggs from 17
countries by dioxins, PCBs and hexachlorobenzene’
- Dioxin, PCBs & Waste Working Group
 dioxin, furan, PCB & HCB in free-range chicken eggs
 bio-indicator of food & environmental contamination
 17 countries / 5 continents
 waste incinerators/dumps, cement kilns, metallurgical
industries, chemical production
Majority exceeded EU level & some highest dioxin levels
Outcomes :
 first U-POPs datasets for many countries:
 link pollution sources & exposure patterns
 indicated priority areas for action
Demonstrates benefits of NGOs in data generation for
chemical management.
NGO Contributions cont…..
Core Consultative Committee on Waste Stakeholder
Involvement Program to Establish New & Better Hazardous
Waste Treatment Facilities
- a stakeholder lead partnership of industry, public interest &
labour NGOs & government
Aims :
 maximise participation & enhance siting process
 broader context of minimizing hazardous waste generation
 ensure proposed locations & technologies broadly-supported
3C Committee :
 designed & implemented public involvement program
 criteria for hazwaste destruction technologies & site selection
Outcomes :
 waste destruction awareness & public debate
 acceptance of technologies & site criteria
 public nominations for hazwaste precinct sites
What have we learnt ?
Importance of Capacity Building through Active Participation
Unless the community has the capacity to receive the information,
to interpret it, and to incorporate it into the decision making
process, the amount and quality of information provided is
irrelevant.
- UN Earthwatch
Effective Chemical Management requires :
 stakeholder involvement / cooperative decision making
 local/regional NGOs to highlight issues, set priorities, monitor
activities, ownership
 equitable access to information, expertise & resources
 proactive capacity building - flow on benefits to govt. & industry
Capacity Building
 NGOs critical to design & implementation
 reflect specific needs /CIS
 requires clear problem definition, participatory design &
feedback cycle
Relatively small amounts of funding have major results
Role NGO Expectations for Effective Stakeholder
Involvement in SAICM
‘The involvement of all relevant sectors and stakeholders, inc. at the local,
national, regional and global levels, is seen as key to achieving the
objectives of the Strategic Approach, as is a transparent and open
implementation process and public participation in decision-making,
featuring in particular a strengthened role for women.’ - SAICM OPS
‘Partnership with all stakeholders’
- SAICM Resolution
 utilise NGO SAICM focal points
 active involvement in SAICM Regional meetings & activities
 assistance through Quick Start Program & other funding
/partnership mechanisms
 drive implementation-related activities at country/regional level
IPEN SAICM Implementation Plan
 guide local/national NGOs
 create funding opportunities using IPEP Model
Major constraints
Lack of Funding / Low priority in development cycle
Trade arguments / Junk /Sound Science
Litigation
IPEN Dubai Declaration
for a Toxics-Free Future, ICCM 2006
“to work for and achieve by the year 2020 a
Toxics-Free Future, in which all chemicals are
produced and used in ways that eliminate
significant adverse effects on human health and
the environment, and where persistent organic
pollutants (POPs) and chemicals of equivalent
concern no longer pollute our local and global
environments, and no longer contaminate our
communities, our food, our bodies, or the bodies
of our children and future generations. “