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Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is an international environmental
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. * Selin, H. (2010). Global Governance of Hazardous Chemicals: Challenges of Multilevel Management, Cambridge: The MIT Press. *
Stockholm Convention Secretariat
Text of the Convention
Ratifications
''Earth Negotiation Bulletin'' coverage of Stockholm Convention Meetings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants Environmental treaties Biodegradable waste management Chemical safety Obsolete pesticides Treaties concluded in 2001 Treaties entered into force in 2004 History of Stockholm Waste treaties Regulation of chemicals 2004 in the environment Treaties of Afghanistan Treaties of Albania Treaties of Algeria Treaties of Angola Treaties of Antigua and Barbuda Treaties of Argentina Treaties of Armenia Treaties of Australia Treaties of Austria Treaties of Azerbaijan Treaties of the Bahamas Treaties of Bahrain Treaties of Bangladesh Treaties of Barbados Treaties of Belarus Treaties of Belgium Treaties of Belize Treaties of Benin Treaties of Bolivia Treaties of Bosnia and Herzegovina Treaties of Botswana Treaties of Brazil Treaties of Bulgaria Treaties of Burkina Faso Treaties of Burundi Treaties of Cambodia Treaties of Cameroon Treaties of Canada Treaties of Cape Verde Treaties of the Central African Republic Treaties of Chad Treaties of Chile Treaties of the People's Republic of China Treaties of Colombia Treaties of the Comoros Treaties of the Republic of the Congo Treaties of the Cook Islands Treaties of Costa Rica Treaties of Ivory Coast Treaties of Croatia Treaties of Cuba Treaties of Cyprus Treaties of the Czech Republic Treaties of North Korea Treaties of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Treaties of Denmark Treaties of Djibouti Treaties of Dominica Treaties of the Dominican Republic Treaties of Ecuador Treaties of Egypt Treaties of El Salvador Treaties of Eritrea Treaties of Estonia Treaties of Ethiopia Treaties of Fiji Treaties of Finland Treaties of France Treaties of Gabon Treaties of the Gambia Treaties of Georgia (country) Treaties of Germany Treaties of Ghana Treaties of Greece Treaties of Guatemala Treaties of Guinea Treaties of Guinea-Bissau Treaties of Guyana Treaties of Honduras Treaties of Hungary Treaties of Iceland Treaties of India Treaties of Indonesia Treaties of Iran Treaties of Iraq Treaties of Ireland Treaties of Italy Treaties of Jamaica Treaties of Japan Treaties of Jordan Treaties of Kazakhstan Treaties of Kenya Treaties of Kiribati Treaties of Kuwait Treaties of Kyrgyzstan Treaties of Laos Treaties of Latvia Treaties of Lebanon Treaties of Lesotho Treaties of Liberia Treaties of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Treaties of Liechtenstein Treaties of Lithuania Treaties of Luxembourg Treaties of Madagascar Treaties of Malawi Treaties of the Maldives Treaties of Mali Treaties of Malta Treaties of the Marshall Islands Treaties of Mauritania Treaties of Mauritius Treaties of Mexico Treaties of the Federated States of Micronesia Treaties of Monaco Treaties of Mongolia Treaties of Montenegro Treaties of Morocco Treaties of Mozambique Treaties of Myanmar Treaties of Namibia Treaties of Nauru Treaties of Nepal Treaties of the Netherlands Treaties of New Zealand Treaties of Nicaragua Treaties of Niger Treaties of Nigeria Treaties of Niue Treaties of Norway Treaties of Oman Treaties of Pakistan Treaties of Palau Treaties of Palestine Treaties of Panama Treaties of Papua New Guinea Treaties of Paraguay Treaties of Peru Treaties of the Philippines Treaties of Poland Treaties of Portugal Treaties of Qatar Treaties of South Korea Treaties of Moldova Treaties of Romania Treaties of Russia Treaties of Rwanda Treaties of Samoa Treaties of São Tomé and Príncipe Treaties of Senegal Treaties of Serbia Treaties of Seychelles Treaties of Sierra Leone Treaties of Singapore Treaties of Slovakia Treaties of Slovenia Treaties of the Solomon Islands Treaties of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia Treaties of South Africa Treaties of Spain Treaties of Sri Lanka Treaties of Saint Kitts and Nevis Treaties of Saint Lucia Treaties of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Treaties of the Republic of the Sudan (1985–2011) Treaties of Suriname Treaties of Eswatini Treaties of Sweden Treaties of Switzerland Treaties of Syria Treaties of Tajikistan Treaties of Thailand Treaties of North Macedonia Treaties of Timor-Leste Treaties of Togo Treaties of Tonga Treaties of Trinidad and Tobago Treaties of Tunisia Treaties of Turkey Treaties of Tuvalu Treaties of Uganda Treaties of Ukraine Treaties of the United Arab Emirates Treaties of the United Kingdom Treaties of Tanzania Treaties of Uruguay Treaties of Vanuatu Treaties of Venezuela Treaties of Vietnam Treaties of Yemen Treaties of Zambia Treaties of Zimbabwe Treaties entered into by the European Union United Nations treaties 2001 in Sweden Treaties extended to the Faroe Islands Treaties extended to Hong Kong Treaties extended to Macau
Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is an international environmental treaty
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...
, signed on 22 May 2001 in Stockholm
Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
and effective from 17 May 2004, that aims to eliminate or restrict the production and use of persistent organic pollutant
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are organic compounds that are resistant to degradation through chemical, biological, and photolytic processes. They are toxic and adversely affect human health and the environment around the world. Because ...
s (POPs).
History
In 1995, the Governing Council of theUnited Nations Environment Programme
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...
(UNEP) called for global action to be taken on POPs, which it defined as "chemical substances that persist in the environment, bio-accumulate through the food web
A food web is the natural interconnection of food chains and a graphical representation of what-eats-what in an ecological community. Position in the food web, or trophic level, is used in ecology to broadly classify organisms as autotrophs or he ...
, and pose a risk of causing adverse effects to human health and the environment".
Following this, the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS) and the International Programme on Chemical Safety
The International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) was formed in 1980 and is a collaboration between three United Nations bodies, the World Health Organization, the International Labour Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme, ...
(IPCS) prepared an assessment of the 12 worst offenders, known as the ''dirty dozen''.
The INC met five times between June 1998 and December 2000 to elaborate the convention, and delegates adopted the Stockholm Convention on POPs at the Conference of the Plenipotentiaries convened from 22 to 23 May 2001 in Stockholm
Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
, Sweden.
The negotiations for the convention were completed on 23 May 2001 in Stockholm. The convention entered into force on 17 May 2004 with ratification
Ratification is a principal's legal confirmation of an act of its agent. In international law, ratification is the process by which a state declares its consent to be bound to a treaty. In the case of bilateral treaties, ratification is usuall ...
by an initial 128 parties and 151 signatories. Co-signatories agree to outlaw nine of the dirty dozen chemicals, limit the use of DDT to malaria
Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...
control, and curtail inadvertent production of dioxins and furans.
Parties to the convention have agreed to a process by which persistent toxic compounds can be reviewed and added to the convention, if they meet certain criteria for persistence and transboundary threat. The first set of new chemicals to be added to the convention were agreed at a conference in Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
on 8 May 2009.
As of September 2022, there are 186 parties to the convention (185 states and the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
). Notable non-ratifying states include the United States, Israel, and Malaysia.
The Stockholm Convention was adopted to EU legislation in Regulation (EC) No 850/2004. In 2019, the latter was replaced by Regulation (EU) 2019/1021.
Summary of provisions
Key elements of the Convention include the requirement that developed countries provide new and additional financial resources and measures to eliminate production and use of intentionally produced POPs, eliminate unintentionally produced POPs where feasible, and manage and dispose of POPs wastes in an environmentally sound manner. Precaution is exercised throughout the Stockholm Convention, with specific references in the preamble, the objective, and the provision on identifying new POPs.Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee
When adopting the convention, provision was made for a procedure to identify additional POPs and the criteria to be considered in doing so. At the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP1), held in Punta del Este, Uruguay, from 2 to 6 May 2005, the POPRC was established to consider additional candidates nominated for listing under the convention. The committee is composed of 31 experts nominated by parties from the five United Nations regional groups and reviews nominated chemicals in three stages. The Committee first determines whether the substance fulfills POP screening criteria detailed in Annex D of the convention, relating to its persistence, bioaccumulation, potential for long-range environmental transport (LRET), and toxicity. If a substance is deemed to fulfill these requirements, the Committee then drafts a risk profile according to Annex E to evaluate whether the substance is likely, as a result of its LRET, to lead to significant adverse human health and/or environmental effects and therefore warrants global action. Finally, if the POPRC finds that global action is warranted, it develops a risk management evaluation, according to Annex F, reflecting socioeconomic considerations associated with possible control measures. Based on this, the POPRC decides to recommend that the COP list the substance under one or more of the annexes to the convention. The POPRC has met annually in Geneva, Switzerland, since its establishment. The seventh meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC-7) of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) took place from 10 to 14 October 2011 in Geneva. POPRC-8 was held from 15 to 19 October 2012 in Geneva, POPRC-9 to POPRC-15 were held in Rome, while POPRC-16 needed to be held online.Listed substances
There were initially twelve distinct chemicals ("dirty dozen") listed in three categories. Two chemicals, hexachlorobenzene and polychlorinated biphenyls, were listed in both categories A and C. Currently, five chemicals are listed in both categories.Chemicals newly proposed for inclusion in Annexes A, B, C
POPRC-7 considered three proposals for listing in Annexes A, B and/or C of the convention: chlorinated naphthalenes (CNs), hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD) andpentachlorophenol
Pentachlorophenol (PCP) is an organochlorine compound used as a pesticide and a disinfectant. First produced in the 1930s, it is marketed under many trade names. It can be found as pure PCP, or as the sodium salt of PCP, the latter of which disso ...
(PCP), its salts and esters. The proposal is the first stage of the POPRC's work in assessing a substance, and requires the POPRC to assess whether the proposed chemical satisfies the criteria in Annex D of the convention. The criteria for forwarding a proposed chemical to the risk profile preparation stage are persistence, bioaccumulation, potential for long-range environmental transport (LRET), and adverse effects.
POPRC-8 proposed hexabromocyclododecane
Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD or HBCDD) is a brominated flame retardant. It consists of twelve carbon, eighteen hydrogen, and six bromine atoms tied to the ring. Its primary application is in extruded (XPS) and expanded (EPS) polystyrene foam used ...
for listing in Annex A, with specific exemptions for production and use in expanded polystyrene and extruded polystyrene in buildings. This proposal was agreed at the sixth Conference of Parties on 28 April – 10 May 2013.
POPRC-9 proposed di-, tri-, tetra-, penta-, hexa-, hepta- and octa-chlorinated naphthalenes, and hexachlorobutadiene for listing in Annexes A and C. It also set up further work on pentachlorophenol, its salts and esters, and decabromodiphenyl ether, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl chloride.
POPRC-15 proposed PFHxS for listing in Annex A without specific exemptions.
Currently, chlorpyrifos
Chlorpyrifos (CPS), also known as chlorpyrifos ethyl, is an organophosphate pesticide that has been used on crops, animals, in buildings, and in other settings, to kill several pests, including insects and worms. It acts on the nervous systems ...
, long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins are under review.
Controversies
Although some critics have alleged that the treaty is responsible for the continuing death toll from malaria, in reality the treaty specifically permits the public health use of DDT for the control ofmosquito
Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a Family (biology), family of small Diptera, flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by ''Musca (fly), mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mos ...
es (the malaria vector
Vector most often refers to:
* Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction
* Disease vector, an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism
Vector may also refer to:
Mathematics a ...
). There are also ways to prevent high amounts of DDT consumed by using other malaria controls such as window screens. As long as there are specific measures taken, such as use of DDT indoors, then the limited amount of DDT can be used in a regulated fashion. From a developing country perspective, a lack of data and information about the sources, releases, and environmental levels of POPs hampers negotiations on specific compounds, and indicates a strong need for research.
Another controversy would be certain POPs (which are continually active, specifically in the Arctic Biota) that were mentioned in the Stockholm Convention, but were not part of the Dirty Dozen such as perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). PFOS have many general uses such as stain repellents but have many properties which can make it a dangerous due to the fact that PFOS can be highly resistant to environmental breakdown. PFOS can be toxic in terms of increased offspring death, decrease in body weight, and the disruption of neurological systems. What makes this compound controversial is the economic and political impact it can have among various countries and businesses.
Related conventions and other ongoing negotiations regarding pollution
* Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade * Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) *Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal
The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, usually known as the Basel Convention, is an international treaty that was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations ...
* Minamata Convention on Mercury
Ongoing negotiations
* Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS) * Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM)References
Further reading
* Chasek, Pam, David L. Downie, and J.W. Brown (2013). ''Global Environmental Politics'', 6th Edition, Boulder: Westview Press. * Downie, D., Krueger, J. and Selin, H. (2005). "Global Policy for Toxic Chemicals", in R. Axelrod, D. Downie and N. Vig (eds.) ''The Global Environment: Institutions, Law & Policy'', 2nd Edition, Washington: CQ Press. * Downie, David and Jessica Templeton (2013). "Persistent Organic Pollutants." ''The Routledge Handbook of Global Environmental Politics''. New York: Routledge. * * * * Porta, M., Gasull, M., López, T., Pumarega, J. Distribution of blood concentrations of persistent organic pollutants in representative samples of the general population. United Nations Environment Programme – Regional Activity Centre for Cleaner Production (CP/RAC) Annual Technical Publication 2010, vol. 9, pp. 24–31. * Selin, H. (2010). Global Governance of Hazardous Chemicals: Challenges of Multilevel Management, Cambridge: The MIT Press. *
External links
Stockholm Convention Secretariat
Text of the Convention
Ratifications
''Earth Negotiation Bulletin'' coverage of Stockholm Convention Meetings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants Environmental treaties Biodegradable waste management Chemical safety Obsolete pesticides Treaties concluded in 2001 Treaties entered into force in 2004 History of Stockholm Waste treaties Regulation of chemicals 2004 in the environment Treaties of Afghanistan Treaties of Albania Treaties of Algeria Treaties of Angola Treaties of Antigua and Barbuda Treaties of Argentina Treaties of Armenia Treaties of Australia Treaties of Austria Treaties of Azerbaijan Treaties of the Bahamas Treaties of Bahrain Treaties of Bangladesh Treaties of Barbados Treaties of Belarus Treaties of Belgium Treaties of Belize Treaties of Benin Treaties of Bolivia Treaties of Bosnia and Herzegovina Treaties of Botswana Treaties of Brazil Treaties of Bulgaria Treaties of Burkina Faso Treaties of Burundi Treaties of Cambodia Treaties of Cameroon Treaties of Canada Treaties of Cape Verde Treaties of the Central African Republic Treaties of Chad Treaties of Chile Treaties of the People's Republic of China Treaties of Colombia Treaties of the Comoros Treaties of the Republic of the Congo Treaties of the Cook Islands Treaties of Costa Rica Treaties of Ivory Coast Treaties of Croatia Treaties of Cuba Treaties of Cyprus Treaties of the Czech Republic Treaties of North Korea Treaties of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Treaties of Denmark Treaties of Djibouti Treaties of Dominica Treaties of the Dominican Republic Treaties of Ecuador Treaties of Egypt Treaties of El Salvador Treaties of Eritrea Treaties of Estonia Treaties of Ethiopia Treaties of Fiji Treaties of Finland Treaties of France Treaties of Gabon Treaties of the Gambia Treaties of Georgia (country) Treaties of Germany Treaties of Ghana Treaties of Greece Treaties of Guatemala Treaties of Guinea Treaties of Guinea-Bissau Treaties of Guyana Treaties of Honduras Treaties of Hungary Treaties of Iceland Treaties of India Treaties of Indonesia Treaties of Iran Treaties of Iraq Treaties of Ireland Treaties of Italy Treaties of Jamaica Treaties of Japan Treaties of Jordan Treaties of Kazakhstan Treaties of Kenya Treaties of Kiribati Treaties of Kuwait Treaties of Kyrgyzstan Treaties of Laos Treaties of Latvia Treaties of Lebanon Treaties of Lesotho Treaties of Liberia Treaties of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Treaties of Liechtenstein Treaties of Lithuania Treaties of Luxembourg Treaties of Madagascar Treaties of Malawi Treaties of the Maldives Treaties of Mali Treaties of Malta Treaties of the Marshall Islands Treaties of Mauritania Treaties of Mauritius Treaties of Mexico Treaties of the Federated States of Micronesia Treaties of Monaco Treaties of Mongolia Treaties of Montenegro Treaties of Morocco Treaties of Mozambique Treaties of Myanmar Treaties of Namibia Treaties of Nauru Treaties of Nepal Treaties of the Netherlands Treaties of New Zealand Treaties of Nicaragua Treaties of Niger Treaties of Nigeria Treaties of Niue Treaties of Norway Treaties of Oman Treaties of Pakistan Treaties of Palau Treaties of Palestine Treaties of Panama Treaties of Papua New Guinea Treaties of Paraguay Treaties of Peru Treaties of the Philippines Treaties of Poland Treaties of Portugal Treaties of Qatar Treaties of South Korea Treaties of Moldova Treaties of Romania Treaties of Russia Treaties of Rwanda Treaties of Samoa Treaties of São Tomé and Príncipe Treaties of Senegal Treaties of Serbia Treaties of Seychelles Treaties of Sierra Leone Treaties of Singapore Treaties of Slovakia Treaties of Slovenia Treaties of the Solomon Islands Treaties of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia Treaties of South Africa Treaties of Spain Treaties of Sri Lanka Treaties of Saint Kitts and Nevis Treaties of Saint Lucia Treaties of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Treaties of the Republic of the Sudan (1985–2011) Treaties of Suriname Treaties of Eswatini Treaties of Sweden Treaties of Switzerland Treaties of Syria Treaties of Tajikistan Treaties of Thailand Treaties of North Macedonia Treaties of Timor-Leste Treaties of Togo Treaties of Tonga Treaties of Trinidad and Tobago Treaties of Tunisia Treaties of Turkey Treaties of Tuvalu Treaties of Uganda Treaties of Ukraine Treaties of the United Arab Emirates Treaties of the United Kingdom Treaties of Tanzania Treaties of Uruguay Treaties of Vanuatu Treaties of Venezuela Treaties of Vietnam Treaties of Yemen Treaties of Zambia Treaties of Zimbabwe Treaties entered into by the European Union United Nations treaties 2001 in Sweden Treaties extended to the Faroe Islands Treaties extended to Hong Kong Treaties extended to Macau