The first session of the ad hoc Open-Ended Working Group on the Science-Policy Panel (OEWG-1.2) is taking place in Bangkok, Thailand, from 30th of January to 3rd of February 2023 with a focus on the Panel’s scope and principal functions. Three IPCP Board Members are in attendance and are providing their daily recaps.
The day today included a plenary session in the morning, a second “deep dive” session from 1-3 pm, and a first contact group in the afternoon and evening. Contact groups are less formal parts of the meeting where certain topics are discussed more specifically and new input to the plenary is prepared. They are in English only and observers are given the floor more often than in the plenary. The contact group today was on the scope and the functions of the new SPP.
In the morning plenary, countries continued to express their perspectives and opinions on the scope and function of the panel. Again, most countries supported a broad scope of the panel. In the discussion of the panel’s functions, questions centered around what is meant by “horizon scanning” and whether or not capacity building in developing countries should be added to the four functions outlined already in the UNEA resolution 5/8. Developing countries argue that this should be an additional function of the panel; developed countries tend to argue that it may overburden the panel, also in terms of costs and that it should be covered by other organisations and programs, of course in connection with and supported by the work of the panel. And, the panel would contribute to capacity building in terms of its outputs that are intended to address chemical pollution issues in developing countries with high priority and with specific consideration of the local conditions and needs.
Today’s “deep dive” session was on the functions of the panel. Speakers were Warefta E. Murshed (Children and Youth Major Group), Miriam Diamond (IPCP Vice Chair and chemicals and waste expert on the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel, STAP, to the Global Environment Facility, GEF), David Kapindula (Zambia), Andrea Hinwood (UNEP Chief Scientist), and Sir Bob Watson (former IPBES and IPCC Chair). Warefta E. Murshed addressed the intentions, goals and needs of early-career scientists and practitioners for their work in the area of chemicals and human and environmental health. Miriam Diamond summarized key functions of the panel (horizon scanning as a forward-looking collection of evidence; support of the development of new methods and generation of new data to cover under-researched problem areas, i.e., going beyond “searching under the lamp post”). She pointed out that the panel needs to help overcome the strong pattern of resource extraction in developing countries, manufacture and use of chemicals and generation of profits in developed countries, and waste dumping in developing countries. As a last point, she highlighted how strong the influence of vested interests may be and that a strict conflict-of-interest policy will be needed for the panel. David Kapindula focused on the need for capacity building and how this need can be addressed by the panel. Andrea Hinwood detailed the various aspects of horizon scanning, and Bob Watson summarized the functions of the panel according to the UNEA resolution 5/8 and provided comments and elaborations on what these functions may entail. IPCP comment: Against the backdrop of the IPCP webinar on conflicts of interest in chemicals governance of January 26, Miriam Diamond highlighted the importance of CoI and how essential it is that CoI need to be identified and handled appropriately. It was our impression that the importance that we assign to this topic was not, or not yet, fully shared by others.
In the afternoon, the contact group on scope and functions of the panel, chaired by David Kapindula (Zambia) and Marine Collignon (France), commenced its work. In the first 1–2 hours, the discussion centered around the definition of the scope and objective of the panel. Many countries expressed their views, and these views were largely consistent (broad scope), but it was not straightforward to find a phrase that captures the scope and objective of the panel. In this context, Martin Scheringer, IPCP Chair, and Miriam Diamond, IPCP Vice Chair, made several interventions with suggestions for the language describing the panel’s scope and objective, which were well received. In making these interventions, we also mentioned the names of our universities in addition to our IPCP affiliation to make visible to countries that academic scientists can and do contribute to the work of the OEWG. This is relevant with respect to the problem that universities cannot be accredited with UNEA, see below. In the second half of the contact group’s meeting, the functions were discussed with a focus on horizon scanning and capacity building.
From 5:45-6:45 pm, the chair of the OEWG meeting, Gudi Alkemade (Netherlands), held a meeting with members of several Major Groups and responded to questions from these Major Groups. Martin Scheringer raised the question of university accreditation. Gudi Alkemade acknowledged the problems surrounding university accreditation and said that no quick solution can be found, and that the Secretariat and also the Bureau of the OEWG are aware of the problem. For the time being, academic scientists need to join other organizations that are accredited in order to participate in the OEWG work.
Longer daily reports prepared by the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Earth Negotiations Bulletin are available at: https://enb.iisd.org/oewg1-2-science-policy-panel-contribute-further-sound-management-chemicals-waste-prevent-pollution
Read our next IPCP Bangkok daily briefing: https://www.ipcp.ch/news/ipcp-bangkok-briefings-day-three-oewg-1-2-meeting