The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) will make its debut on the world stage in Punta del Este, Uruguay from 2-6 May at a meeting of 800 government officials and observers committed to ridding the world of some of the most dangerous chemicals ever created.

The Convention, which entered into force on 17 May 2004, targets 12 hazardous pesticides and industrial chemicals that can kill people, damage the nervous and immune systems, cause cancer and reproductive disorders and interfere with normal infant and child development.

“The Stockholm Convention will save lives and protect the natural environment; particularly in the poorest communities and countries,” said Executive Director Klaus Toepfer of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), under whose auspices the Convention was adopted in 2001.

“Eliminating POPs, however, will cost billions of dollars and require countries to adopt new methods and technologies to replace these toxic substances. The hard work has only just begun,” he said.

The main challenges to meeting the Convention’s goal are:

• Minimizing and eliminating releases of dioxins and furans. Reducing these unwanted by-products of combustion and industrial processes will require expensive and innovative new technologies and processes. It will also involve educating people not to burn garbage and other materials in open fires. In Punta del Este, officials aim to advance these efforts with Guidelines on Best Available Techniques and Environmental Practices for preventing or reducing the formation of dioxins and furans.
• Phasing out DDT without undermining the fight against malaria. Until safe, affordable and effective alternatives are in place, governments can continue using DDT to protect their citizens from malaria - a major killer in many tropical regions. The conference will evaluate the continued need for DDT and consider next steps
• Developing alternative for combating termites. These tiny pests cause billions of dollars in economic damage and are particularly difficult to control. The meeting will consider prodecures for handling future requests by governments for exemptions enabling them to continue using three POPs termiticides. It will also evaluate initiatives to reduce and eliminate completely the need for these chemicals.
• Cleaning up old PCBs from aging and widely dispersed equipment. PCBs have been used in electrical transformers and other equipment for decades. They must be eliminated and replaced over the next 20 years. Most developing countries, however, currently lack the facilities, funds and expertise to do so.

Fortunately, these challenges (which are described in greater detail in the articles below) can all be met through win-win solutions that reconcile eventual elimination with immediate human needs. By signalling to governments and industry that certain chemicals have no future while respecting their legitimate short-term concerns, the Convention aims to stimulate the development of new, affordable and effective alternatives to the world’s most dangerous POPs.

The 12 POPs covered by the Convention include nine pesticides (aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene, mirex and toxaphene); two industrial chemicals (PCBs as well as hexachlorobenzene, also used as a pesticide); and unintentional by-products, most importantly dioxins and furans. One of the conference’s key tasks is to establish a process for evaluating future candidates for adding to this initial list.

The conference will also consider adopting or endorsing the guidelines on managing POPs wastes that were adopted last year by the Basel Convention on Transboundary Movements of Hazardous and Other Wastes. Still another task is to provide guidance to the Global Environment Facility, which serves for the time being as the ‘financial mechanism’ that funds national projects and activities for implementing the Convention.

Some 130 countries are expected to participate in the Punta del Este meeting, which is known formally as the First Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention (COP 1).

While the risk level varies from POP to POP, these chemicals all share four properties: they are highly toxic; they are stable and persistent, lasting for years or decades before degrading into less dangerous forms; they evaporate and travel long distances through the air and through water; and they accumulate in the fatty tissue of humans and wildlife.

Every human in the world carries traces of POPs in his or her body. POPs circulate globally through a process known as the “grasshopper effect”. POPs released in one part of the world can, through a repeated process of evaporation and deposit, be transported through the atmosphere to regions far away from the original source.

Fortunately, there are alternatives to POPs. The problem has been that high costs, a lack of public awareness, and the absence of appropriate infrastructure and technology have often prevented their adoption. Solutions must be tailored to the specific properties and uses of each chemical and to each country’s climatic and socio-economic conditions.

Original press release: Governments Meet to Launch Global Campaign to Eliminate 12 Most Hazardous Chemicals (UNEP)

The prosperous nations of the world must work with developing countries to find innovative ways of providing electricity–not from fossil fuels but from renewable resources, keynote speaker R.K. Pachauri told a recent meeting of the Alliance for Global Sustainability.

Almost 2 billion people worldwide have no electricity in their homes, said Pachauri, director general of The Energy and Resources Institute, India, and chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Some 250 leaders from academia, industry, government and nongovernment organizations addressed the challenges of identifying and implementing sustainable-development strategies worldwide at the meeting of the alliance held at MIT March 20-23.

The AGS, currently celebrating its 10th anniversary, is a collaborative research program whose member institutions are MIT, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology-Z�rich, the University of Tokyo and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden.

The AGS launched a new initiative on sustainable energy at the meeting, “Near-Term Pathways to a Sustainable Energy Future.” Its goal is to identify steps that can be taken now to move the world toward sustainable energy technologies, infrastructures and markets in the future.

AGS research to that end will focus on specific sectors, notably transportation and electric power, but will also have a regional focus. Presentations at the meeting demonstrated that energy-related needs and opportunities vary widely from place to place, and approaches must be designed to suit the local context. India, for example, aims to reach “developed country” status by 2020, while Africa must struggle with poverty, land degradation and an HIV/AIDS pandemic along its path to sustainability.

Developed nations must actively partner with the developing world because “the conditions for a repeat of the economic history of the north are just not available to the societies of the south,” Pachauri said.

He described the interrelated problems of food security, sustainable energy, and climate change and posed the following challenge to the AGS: “As an alliance of developed country institutions, [the AGS] has an enormous opportunity and responsibility to inform the public and decision makers in the developed world both on the serious nature of problems�in the developing world and their likely solutions.”

The AGS meeting also served as a platform for a major policy announcement by Lars G. Josefsson, president and CEO of Vattenfall AB, a large European energy conglomerate. To “get things going,” he called for setting the “correct” price on emissions–a price that should be global and established by market forces.

“I would like to call on all company executives, but primarily those on both sides of the Atlantic, to work for a global emissions trading system,” he said. “Now it is really time for us from the business community to take a leading role and interact with governments and NGOs to design the rules and regulations, not just protect our short-sighted business interests.”

Asked for his views on the impact of the AGS, Professor Charles M. Vest, MIT president emeritus and one of the founding presidents of the alliance, said that the international collaboration made possible by the AGS has been a “life-changing” experience for many of MIT’s faculty and students. Since it was established 10 years ago, the AGS has “transformed” MIT, driving the formation of environmental programs and a large community of committed students.

Original press release: Leaders Meet at MIT to Tackle World Energy Woes (MIT)

National agricultural experts and government officials from Poland, together with representatives of key UN agencies, are meeting here today to begin the final phase of Poland’s efforts to eliminate the use of methyl bromide by the end of 2005. The requirement is mandated by the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

This Decision Maker’s Workshop for the Post Harvest Sector also marks the first in-country activity of an ambitious regional project to phase out the use of methyl bromide by 31 December 2005 in five countries: Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. Under this project, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will jointly deliver training and investment services to assist the countries in meeting this deadline. Support for this project is provided by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Methyl bromide is an ozone-depleting chemical used worldwide for fumigating soil and controlling pests. Its consumption and production is controlled under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, and it is being phased out according to a rigid timetable. Developed countries, such as Poland and the other countries under the regional project, have agreed to reduce methyl bromide by 25% by 1999 (compared to 1991 levels), 50% by 2001, 70% by 2003 and 100% by 1 January 2005. For developing countries, the schedule started with a 2002 freeze (at average 1995-98 levels) and continues with reductions of 20% by 2005 and 100% by 2015. The five countries will eliminate a combined total of about 167 metric tonnes of methyl bromide under this project. The majority of this use is in the post harvest (storage of commodities) and soil fumigation sectors.

Poland, like the majority of the other participating countries under the regional project, is newly-acceded to the European Union. The country is thus striving to meet not only the phase out targets of the Montreal Protocol, but also the more stringent requirements contained in EU regulations.

The GEF support will provide Poland and the other project countries with the latest technology for methyl bromide alternatives, in some cases before the technology has been adopted by other EU members. This includes chemical and non-chemical alternatives such as phosphine, heat and sanitation techniques, and Integrated Commodities Management (ICM) in the post harvest sector, as well as the use of metam sodium, Dazomet, soil amendments, substrates, grafting techniques and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in the soil sector. In addition, UNDP will be securing some of the latest equipment to assist in the applications of alternatives. This project follows on the first of its kind, a GEF Medium-Sized Project that initiated early phase out of methyl bromide in countries with economies in transition (CEITs) through awareness raising, policy development and demonstration/training activities, implemented by the UNEP DTIE OzonAction Programme.

This regional project comes at a time when interest in methyl bromide phase out is high. Several developed countries are currently submitting Critical Use Exemptions (CUEs) for the consideration of an Extraordinary Meeting of the Parties to be held this July. They are essentially seeking waivers on the phase out for certain non-QPS uses of methyl bromide. The Montreal Protocol allows governments to apply for exemptions from the Protocol’s total phase-out requirements for certain controlled substances, provided criteria agreed by the Parties are met. In the case of methyl bromide, exemptions are intended to give users additional time to identify and adopt technically and economically feasible alternatives for eliminating pests in a range of crops. Poland currently has been approved CUEs for 2005 for strawberry nursery plants, medicinal herbs and dried mushrooms.

Through this first Decision-Maker’s Workshop, Poland’s country stakeholders and the media will have the opportunity to learn about the project components and cooperation planned between agencies and countries, as efforts begin to achieve the final total sector phase out of methyl bromide across the countries.

Original press release: Eastern Europe to Ban Ozone-Depleting Pesticide By End-2005 (UNEP)

European Climate Exchange (ECX) and the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) today announced that the first day of trading for ECX Carbon Financial Instrument (ECX CFI) futures contracts will be 22nd April 2005. The ECX CFI futures contract, which is listed for electronic trading on the IPE, will be the first exchange-traded futures contract for the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme. ECX CFI futures will allow users to lock-in prices for ECX CFIs delivered at set dates in the future and will be a useful alternative to over-the-counter forward contracts, allowing users to secure transparent prices and reduce counterparty risk. Trades will be cleared through LCH.Clearnet.

The ECX and IPE today also released details of the ECX CFI futures Contract.

Key features of ECX CFI futures contracts:

• Contract size: 1,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
• Price quotation: Euros and euro cents.
• Contract fees: Per lot, per side execution fees are �2.00 for IPE members and �2.50 for non-IPE members
• CFIs eligible for delivery: ETS CO2 emission allowances issued by specified EU Member States and other related instruments as specified by IPE rules.
• Listed contracts, expiration cycle: Quarterly contracts (March-June-Sept-Dec) listed from December 2005 through March 2008; annual expirations listed for 2008 through 2012.
• Delivery procedure: Delivery of eligible allowances to Member State registry accounts in accordance with the IPE rules.
• Applicable regulatory authorities: ECX products are listed by and traded on the IPE which is recognised as an investment exchange by the UK Financial Services Authority.

Peter Koster, chief executive of ECX outlined the key benefits of ECX CFI futures contracts: “We have created a standardised futures contract on a highly regulated market, with low transaction costs, transparent prices, central counterparty services provided by LCH.Clearnet and ready access to the IPE’s electronic marketplace. The specifications of our contracts have been established with the help of our industry and financial committees, who comprise most of the key emitters and potential traders and with whom we have been consulting over the past six months.”

Access to the IPE for the trading of ECX CFI futures contracts can be secured by becoming an IPE Member or order-routing as a client of an IPE Member. Further information about gaining access to ECX CFI futures contracts can be found at www.ecxeurope.com or www.theipe.com/emissions.

Original press release: Launch date set for first EU ETS futures contracts (Chicago Climate Exchange)

The 2005 World Exposition is taking place in Aichi, Japan from 25 March to 25 September 2005.

EXPO 2005 represents a determined effort by Japan to develop new modalities of life for the 21st century. It is an ambitious attempt to rediscover ‘Nature’s Wisdom’ - science and technology inherent in our surroundings that together foster a sound balance between human life and the environment. It is also an amazing showcase of cutting-edge technologies, which give us solutions to myriad global issues and enable the sustainable development of the world economy.

The organizing committee expects this exposition will give impetus to the establishment of programs for the development of nature, technology, and culture as well as new and well-balanced relationships among them, with the goal of bettering our lives and our planet. This will be achieved through collecting and presenting both traditional and new aspects of ‘Nature’s Wisdom’ from each nation and its people.

One of the focuses of EXPO 2005 is the development of Eco-Communities. New energy and new recycling technology will be utilized to demonstrate a model recycling society. ‘The ideal balance between social development and environment is pursued and the restoration of environments is attempted.’

UNEP’s involvement in EXPO 2005 focuses on the following areas:

1. An exhibition of winning photographs from the ‘Focus on Your World’ photo competition jointly organized by Canon and UNEP is being held at the Art Gallery of the United Nation Pavilion. The Award Ceremony will take place at the Theatre of the United Nations Pavilion.

2. The 2005 Children’s World Summit for the Environment will take place this July in Aichi, Japan. The Summit, organized by UNEP and hosted by JOC, will focus on Energy, Recycling, Water, Forests, and Biodiversity.

3. A publication to mark the 20th anniversary of the UNEP Sasakawa Prize was launched today in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. “This publication is a substantive record of an historic event that brought together some of the most respected environmental experts from around the world,” said UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer, speaking at the launch ceremony.

Original press release: EXPO 2005 to spotlight Nature�s Wisdom, Aichi, Japan (UNEP)

This November, Australian and international scientists will meet in Melbourne aiming to set a new benchmark in how industry and government can respond to climate change research.

Greenhouse 2005: Action on Climate Change will be the largest climate change conference held in the Southern Hemisphere this year.

“At Greenhouse 2005 we will draw together the current knowledge of climate change to present as complete a picture as possible of the known impacts of climate change in Australian cities and the natural environment, and how we need to proceed to respond to these changes,” says CSIRO Climate Director, Dr Bryson Bates.

“There will be strong representation from industry and government leaders, highlighting the actions that are being taken to address climate change.”

“Climate changes will affect primary and coastal industries, insurance, and the natural systems. Some of these impacts are already being felt today.”

“Essentially Greenhouse 2005 is a unique opportunity for industry, government and science to come together and share their skills and expertise,” Dr Bates said.

“This will include options for adaptation as well as regional approaches to reducing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. The conference will also cover international issues, policy development, communication and education.”

Greenhouse 2005 is being organised by CSIRO in collaboration with industry, government and universities. Major sponsors include the Australian Greenhouse Office, the Victorian Government, CSIRO Climate, the Bureau of Meteorology and NewScientist.

Original press release: International Climate Change Conference � Melbourne (CSIRO)