The third and final scheduled session of the ad hoc Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG-3) on the Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste and Pollution Prevention is taking place in in Geneva, Switzerland on June 17–21, 2024. IPCP Board Members are in attendance and are providing their daily summaries. Policy briefs and other documents prepared by the IPCP as inputs to the process are available on the IPCP publications page.
Today was the first official day of the OEWG-3 meeting. For the civil society groups, the day began with the Major Groups meeting at 8:30. The main topic of the meeting was the preparation of an intervention to be made in the plenary on behalf of all Major Groups. The meeting was chaired by Tom Welton, Royal Society of Chemistry, and Josephine Robertson, International Council on Mining and Metals, and the group worked very constructively towards a final, agreed on text for the intervention. It included three points: the removal of the Policy Committee from the structure of the SPP, the request for inclusive and meaningful participation of civil society actors in the Interdisciplinary Expert Committee and throughout the SPP work program, and a strong and rigorous conflict-of-interest policy for everyone involved in the work of the SPP. The intervention was then delivered to the plenary by Josephine Robertson.
After the MG meeting, the opening plenary started at 10, but with some delay because the largest room of the Geneva International Conference Center could for some reason not be used for the plenary (although it was open and empty) and all delegates had to find seats in a smaller room and in a “spill-over” room for delegates who could not find seats in the main room. It was not clear why the largest room could not be used, which caused considerable friction and confusion.
Chair Alkemade officially opened the OEWG-3 meeting and welcomed all 124 governments and 54 observers present at the meeting. Opening statements were then delivered by Katrin Schneeberger, Director of the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment, Sheila Aggarwal-Khan, Director of the Industry and Economy Division of UNEP, and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of WHO. Many agenda items such as election of officers, adoption of the agenda, and the establishment of the four contact groups (1: foundational document, 2: work programme-related matters, 3: rules of procedure, financial procedures and conflict of interest, 4: preparations of the intergovernmental meeting) were then handled quickly and efficiently.
During the lunchbreak, the Science & Technology MG held a meeting dealing with the establishment of the SPP Science Alliance. The discussion was led by Mohamed Abdelraouf and Camilla Alexander-White; the general idea is that this Science Alliance will follow the SPP work process and facilitate an exchange between scientists from different fields with the bodies of the SPP. Currently, this Science Alliance is still in an early planning stage.
In the afternoon, the work in contact groups 1 (dealing with principles of the SPP) and 4 (preamble text) commenced and contact group 3 (conflict of interest) was initiated later in the evening. From all contact groups, but particularly contact group 1, a general impression is that progress was very slow and that the discussions lacked focus and momentum; some of the interventions even reversed content that had been reached a result of OEWG-2. To many people in the different rooms, this was highly frustrating, in particular after the smooth and efficient morning plenary and given the general understanding that everyone is aware that here in Geneva the last steps have to be made to finalize the work of the SPP OEWG. The work of the contact groups was positively interrupted by a reception offered by the Swiss Government, which was well attended and where all attendees enjoyed excellent food and drinks in the late afternoon sun. After the reception, the work of the contact groups continued. Late in the evening discussions began on conflict of interest, which is a topic of considerable interest for many delegates. Again, the progress was slow and many observers were surprised by the lack of focus and momentum. Overall, it was a day that began well and ended on a low note.
IISD coverage:
https://enb.iisd.org/oewg3-science-policy-panel-contribute-sound-management-chemicals-waste-prevent-pollution