Global Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste and Pollution Prevention
An ES&T Viewpoint entitled “Key principles for the intergovernmental science–policy panel on chemicals and waste” was published earlier this year co-authored by a number of IPCP members in collaboration with other international scientists. This effort was part of preparations for the first session of the ad-hoc Open-Ended Working Group on the Science-Policy Panel (OEWG-1.2) with a focus on the Panel’s scope and principal functions. Three IPCP board members (Martin Scheringer, Miriam Diamond, and Penny Vlahos) attended the OEWG-1.2 meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, and provided their daily recaps. The IPCP plans to be present at the next OEWG meeting this December as well as to continue to provide input into this process. The current input opportunity is with regards to the background document on SPP operating principles.
Conflicts of Interest Webinar
For decades, many companies have deliberately challenged the environmental safety assessments of chemicals and related regulatory decisions. Given the relevance of this issue with regards to the forthcoming global Science-Policy Panel (SPP) on chemicals and waste, the IPCP organized a well-attended webinar on 26 January 2023 on conflicts of interest (COI), where renowned experts summarized (i) the typical industry tactics used to create doubt, (ii) the impact and consequences of these actions, and (iii) ways to improve the situation. The webinar recording is available on the IPCP website. A review paper outlining steps that should be taken to prevent the detrimental impacts of COI in the SPP is currently being prepared for submission to a peer-reviewed journal for publication.
Biodiversity Paper
A recent paper in Global Change Biology co-led by IPCP members Gabriel Sigmund and Ksenia Groh, with contribution from other IPCP members and colleagues, reviews the complex impacts of chemical pollution on biodiversity loss. The authors also emphasize that, to facilitate effective solutions for comprehensive environmental protection, chemical pollution, as a significant factor contributing to worldwide biodiversity loss, should be more systematically incorporated into biodiversity research. To achieve this, a wider collaboration among ecologists, ecotoxicologists, and environmental chemists is urgently needed. This paper was a detailed follow-up to the publication by Mueller et al. (2022) and other IPCP members, prompted by the COP 15 of the Convention on Biodiversity held in December 2022, where the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework limited consideration of harmful chemicals to just three classes (pesticides, nutrients and plastic waste).
UNEP Plastics Report and Webinar Series
The IPCP under leadership of Roland Weber is involved in a UNEP project on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and POP candidates in plastics. As part of this effort, the document “Chemicals in plastics: a technical report” has been recently published. The IPCP is also hosting a related webinar series of three parts: part I of the series (held on April 24 and 25) provided an overview of relevant POP groups (and other chemicals of concern) in plastics and some insights into related human exposure and environmental pollution including biota. Part II (held on May 19) introduced screening and sampling strategies of plastic categories potentially containing POPs, such as plastics in electronics and vehicles or recycled pellets. Part III (on May 22 and 23) will introduce extraction and clean-up methods of plastic samples for POP analysis as well as the instrumental analysis of the major POP groups. Registration for the upcoming webinars and past recordings are available via the IPCP website:
https://www.ipcp.ch/activities/ipcp-webinar-series-pops-in-plastic-and-monitoring-approaches
Negotiations for a Legally Binding Instrument on Plastic Pollution
The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on plastic pollution will hold its second meeting from May 29 to June 2 in Paris, France. The IPCP follows the negotiations, also by regular discussions and exchange with members of the Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastic Treaty, and will provide brief summaries from the meeting on the IPCP News page:
https://www.ipcp.ch/news
The Upcoming IPCP Board Elections
The IPCP board oversees the direction of the IPCP and meets via regular biweekly meetings. The terms of the following IPCP board members are expiring this year: Miriam Diamond, Joan Grimalt, Rainer Lohmann, and Andreas Schaffer. The next IPCP board elections are planned for this fall. The current IPCP board would like to see an addition of a few more members with the hope to increase its international representation and diversity. If you are interested in learning more, please reach out to any of the current board members.