No
consensus on chrysotile asbestos, endosulfan
Rome, 31 October 2008 - Over 120 countries
party to the Rotterdam Convention agreed
to add the pesticide tributyltin to a global
trade “watch list”, but were unable to reach
consensus on the inclusion of chrysotile
asbestos and the pesticide endosulfan during
negotiations here this week.
The conference reaffirmed
that governments have an obligation to use
the Convention’s information-sharing mechanism
to inform others about their national decisions
on the import and management of hazardous
chemicals.
“Trade comes with rights
and responsibilities, and the discussions
this week have shown the strong commitment
of many countries to this spirit of reciprocity,”
said Bakary Kanté, Director of the
Division of Environmental Law and Conventions,
United Nations Environment Programme. UNEP,
along with FAO, jointly manages the Convention
secretariat.
The Rotterdam Convention
on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure
for certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides
in International Trade promotes transparency
and information sharing about potential
risks to human health and the environment.
Its so-called PIC list currently contains
39 hazardous substances, including all other
forms of asbestos.
“International instruments
such as the Rotterdam Convention are tools
to assist countries in sound chemicals management;
they are not an end in themselves but a
means to an end,” said James Butler, FAO
Deputy Director-General at the opening of
the high-level segment of the meeting.
Under the Convention,
exports of chemicals and pesticides on the
PIC list require the prior informed consent
of the importing country. This gives developing
countries in particular the power to decide
which potentially hazardous chemicals they
want to receive and to exclude those they
cannot manage safely.
Exporting countries
are responsible for ensuring that no exports
leave their territory when an importing
country has made the decision not to accept
the chemical or pesticide in question.
“Clearly the chemical
footprint of our modern economies is expanding
exponentially today,” said UNEP Executive
Director Achim Steiner.
“The transition towards
a greener economy touches upon the responsibilities
that we have as societies, as governments
and as international institutions to look
at how the use of chemicals empowers development
and not undermines it, not least through
the impact it has on the health of our societies.”
During the conference,
many governments expressed serious concern
about the failure to list chrysotile asbestos.
The World Health Organization made a statement
reminding participants that chrysotile is
a human carcinogen and that at least 90,000
people die every year of asbestos-related
diseases such as lung cancer and mesothelioma,
a rare form of cancer directly linked to
asbestos.
Chrysotile asbestos
is the most commonly used form of asbestos,
accounting for around 94 percent of global
asbestos production. It is widely used in
building materials, such as asbestos cement,
pipe and sheet, and in the manufacture of
friction products, gaskets and paper.
Tributyltin (TBT) compounds
are pesticides used in antifouling paints
for ship hulls and are toxic to fish, molluscs
and other aquatic organisms. The International
Maritime Organization has moved to ban the
use of antifouling paints containing TBT
compounds.
Endosulfan is a pesticide
widely used around the world, particularly
in cotton production. It is hazardous to
the environment and detrimental to human
health, particularly in those countries
where safeguards are not adequate.
Some 70,000 different
chemicals are available on the market today,
and around 1,500 new ones are introduced
every year. This can pose a major challenge
to regulators charged with monitoring and
managing these potentially dangerous substances.
Many pesticides that have been banned or
whose use has been severely restricted in
industrialized countries are still marketed
and used in developing countries.
Further information is available at http://www.pic.int
or by emailing pic@pic.int
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson
+ More
The Secretary-General's
Message on the International Day for Preventing
the Exploitation of the Environment in War
and Armed Conflict
6 November 2008 - The
natural environment enjoys protection under
Protocol 1 of the Geneva Conventions. But
this protection is often violated during
war and armed conflict. Water wells are
polluted, crops torched, forests cut down,
soils poisoned, and animals killed, all
in order to gain military advantage. The
draining of the marshlands of the Euphrates-Tigris
Delta during the 11000s deliberately targeted
the ecosystem for political and military
goals.
From the Balkans to
Afghanistan, from Lebanon to Sudan, the
United Nations is studying the environmental
impacts of conflict across the world. We
have seen how environmental damage and the
collapse of institutions are threatening
human health, livelihoods and security.
These risks can also
jeopardize fragile peace and development
in post-conflict societies. In Afghanistan,
warfare and institutional disintegration
have combined to take a major toll. In a
clear case of environmentally induced displacement,
tens of thousands of people have been forced
from rural to urban areas in search of food
and employment.
The environment and
natural resources are crucial in consolidating
peace within and between war-torn societies.
Several countries in the Great Lakes Region
of Africa established trans-boundary cooperation
to manage their shared natural resources.
Lasting peace in Darfur will depend in part
on resolving the underlying competition
for water and fertile land. And there can
be no durable peace in Afghanistan if the
natural resources that sustain livelihoods
and ecosystems are destroyed.
The United Nations attaches
great importance to ensuring that action
on the environment is part of our approach
to peace. Protecting the environment can
help countries create employment opportunities,
promote development and avoid a relapse
into armed conflict. On this International
Day, let us renew our commitment to preventing
the exploitation of the environment in times
of conflict, and to protecting the environment
as a pillar of our work for peace.
