The Future of Chemicals and Waste Management: First Intersessional Meeting in Brasilia

In 2020, the current mandate of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) will come to an end. At this week’s multi-stakeholder meeting in Brasilia, 250 delegates from 69 countries are discussing the future UN framework to deal with hazardous chemicals and waste.

At the fourth session of the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM4) in 2015, delegates launched an intersessional process to develop proposals on the sound management of chemicals and waste, including SAICM, beyond 2020.

The first meeting of the intersessional process brings together representatives from national and international NGOs, as well as from industry and academia, since the sound management of chemicals and waste (SMCW) requires the participation of all stakeholders and the involvement of many sectors on all levels. This week in Brasilia, delegates are discussing the vision and scope for the Strategic Approach and SMCW beyond 2020, as well as the current voluntary, multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral approach. Further items on the agenda are emerging policy issues and how best to respond to them, as well as linkages with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In the framework of the SAICM Post 2020 project, adelphi takes part in this important meeting in support of the German delegation. In preparation for the meeting, adelphi conducted interviews with stakeholders engaged in SAICM and compiled their views on the future governance landscape on hazardous substances. A policy paper on the outcomes of these interviews is now available online. 

adelphi’s senior associate Paul Hohnen has recently published an article at Innovation Forum with his thoughts on the pressing need for global chemicals governance, in which he strongly advises to enhance the institutional basis to deal with hazardous substances. The full article can be accessed here.

In addition, adelphi launched an information website on the beyond 2020 process, which will be expanded over the coming months to include further publications, highlights, and upcoming events: https://chemicalsbeyond2020.adelphi.de