Earth Summit 1997

Global Ban On Persistent Toxic Chemicals

Summary

As follow-up to the Earth Summit, governments agreed in February 1997 to negotiate a legally binding global convention to reduce and/or eliminate persistent organic pollutants or "POPs." POPs are toxic substances that disrupt ecosystems and injure human health. They travel long distances and can become more concentrated as they move up the food chain. Most POPs are chlorine-containing, synthetic compounds, as are all of the POPs that have been given highest priority. Greenpeace has been campaigning for over a decade to eliminate POPs and their sources. POPs negotiations, scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 1998, can reach commitments by governments for action that will eliminate this grave threat. Greenpeace will do all in our power to make certain this happens.

Problem Statement

Persistent Organic Pollutants or "POPs" are a class of pollutants that, by definition, have the following characteristics:

POPs remain in the environment for a long time
resist degradation
POPs can travel long distances (across boundaries) on currents of air or water, or by other means
POPs are highly toxic and can injure biota and humans at very low concentrations and in regions distant from their source.

Many POPs disrupt the endocrine system and are associated with reproductive failure, immune system disorder, behavior and learning disorders, cancers, tumors and other afflictions. POPs disrupt ecosystems and injure human health. POPs often build up through the food chain and can reach concentrations in wildlife and humans thousands of times higher than in the surrounding air, water and soil. POPs are now found at dangerous levels in people and biota in every region of the globe. Many POPs tend, over time, to migrate from warmer to colder regions. Evidence shows POPs have injured birds, mammals and humans at locations thousands of miles from their likely source. There is no place to hide.

Political agreements have been signed to eliminate POPs and similar pollutants in some regions of the world, but there has been little practical implementation. Given the global nature of POPs contamination, international action is required. At its 19th Governing Council Meeting in February, 1997, UNEP agreed to start negotiations toward a legally binding global convention to address POPs. The first meeting of an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) will take place in January-March 1998.

Most identified POPs are products and/or by-products of industrial chlorine chemistry. Each of the POPs identified by UNEP on its early action short list are chlorine-containing compounds called "organochlorines." Substances on that short list -- the ultra-toxic dioxins and furans -- are generated as unwanted wastes whenever organochlorine materials or chlorine-dependent processes are used.

Some Key Facts

Some 170 organochlorines of industrial origin have been found in human tissue, even more in animals.

Over 11,000 organochlorines are currently in commerce. Organochlorines are also present in breast milk, human blood and semen.

All 12 of the POPs on the short list for immediate global action are organochlorines: DDT, toxaphene, chlordane, heptachlor, endrin, mirex, aldrin, dieldrin, hexachlorobenzene, polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins and furans.

Of the 12, DDT, toxaphene, chlordane, heptachlor, endrin, mirex, aldrin and dieldrin are pesticides. PCBs and hexachlorobenzene are industrial chemicals. Dioxins, furans, PCBs, hexachlorobenzene and toxaphene can arise as by-products of the production, use and disposal by incineration of chlorine-containing chemicals.

Greenpeace's Involvement in the Issue

Greenpeace was among the first Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) pressuring governments, corporations and others to take action that will eliminate persistent organic pollutants at their source while promoting clean production as the way forward. This has been a centerpiece of Greenpeace toxics campaign work in over 20 countries for the past decade.

Greenpeace has raised demands for intergovernmental action to phase out sources of persistent organic pollutants, especially organochlorines, in regional seas fora over the past decade, especially fora addressing pollution of the Great Lakes (US/Canada International Joint Commission); the North Sea (Oslo and Paris Commission; North Sea Ministers Conferences); the Baltic (Helsinki Commission), the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention), and others.

As a follow-up to obligations that stem from the 1992 Earth Summit, Greenpeace has actively campaigned to convince governments that a legally binding global convention will be needed to rid the earth of POPs and their sources. Work toward an effective POPs Agreement and successful implementation is a Greenpeace priority.

Solutions

Urgent commitments will be needed to phase out POPs and their sources, and to move toward a global system of clean production. Leaders should pledge their countries to conclude a legally binding, global agreement on POPs by 2000 at the latest. The agreement must include a realistic mechanism to expand the POPs action list beyond the original short list of twelve and must include real and enforceable commitments to:

Phase out production of intentionally produced POPs in every region and in every country
Phase out production and use of synthetic materials that always generate POPs as unwanted wastes during their ordinary life-cycle
Clean up POPs stockpiles and environmental reservoirs using technologies that do not create by-products that are also POPs
Introduce clean products and processes that can serve as effective replacements to POPs and their sources
Provide newly industrializing countries the needed financial, technical and other assistance required to take appropriate action. In this context, governments in OECD and newly industrializing countries can hasten the shift to non-toxic and resource-efficient food and manufacturing systems. If priority is placed on the development and use of existing and economically viable alternative systems and materials, POPs could be phased out rapidly.
Relevant Reports
Report of the Ad Hoc POPs Working Group, Intergovernmental Forum On Chemical Safety; Manila, the Philippines, June 1996;
International Experts Meeting on Persistent Organic Pollutants: Towards Global Action, Meeting Statement; Vancouver, Canada, Signed by approximately 100 experts, June, 1995
Statement from the Work Session on Environmental Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals: Neural, Endocrine, and Behavioral Effects, Erice Italy, Signed by 18 scientists, November 1995, 7 pages. Body of Evidence: The Effects of Chlorine on Human Health, Greenpeace International, May 1995, 90 pages
Death in Small Doses: The Effects of Organochlorines on AquaticEcosystems, Greenpeace International, September 1992, 28 pages
Dioxin From Cradle to Grave, Greenpeace USA, April 1997, 59 pages
Achieving Zero Dioxin: An Emergency Strategy for Dioxin Elimination, Greenpeace International, December 1994, 52 pages.
Key Contacts
Greenpeace International:
Remi Parmentier - tel: 31.20.523.6242, fax: 31.20.523.6200, e-mail: remi.parmentier@dialb.greenpeace.org
Keizersgracht 176, 1016 DW Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Greenpeace USA:
Jack Weinberg - tel: 1.312.563.6060 x 213, fax: 1.312.563.6099, e-mail: jack.weinberg@dialb.greenpeace.org
847 W. Jackson Blvd.-7th Floor, Chicago, Illinois, USA 60607.
Greenpeace Science Unit:
Pat Costner, tel: 44.1.392.263 917, fax 44.1392.263.907, e-mail: pat.costner@dialb.greenpeace.org
Earth Resources Center, Exeter University, North Park Rd, Exeter, UK EX4 4QE.
UNEP Chemicals Office, Geneva, Switzerland, tel: 41.22.979.9111, e-mail irptc@unep.ch
Case postale 356; 15, Chemin des Anemones; CH 1219 Chatelain