Chemicals, wastes and climate change

About the four conventions

The 1989 Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, the 1998 Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, the 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, and the 2013 Minamata Convention on Mercury all aim at protecting human health and the environment from hazardous chemicals and wastes.

Climate change and management of hazardous chemicals and wastes are two of the many challenges facing policy and decision makers committed to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals, as set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. A number of global agreements have been established to address these issues. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change seeks to both stabilize greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere and adapt to the eventual inevitable impacts of climate change. Falling within the scope of this study, hazardous chemicals related agreements include the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and the Minamata Convention on Mercury. Finally, the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal focuses specifically on waste-related issues.

www.mercuryconvention.org

www.brsmeas.org

Media

"“The twin threats of climate change and biodiversity loss through increasing pollution from chemicals and wastes show no signs of slowing. This report demonstrates how those twin threats are in fact inter-related. The sound management of chemicals and waste, including plastic waste, when implemented in coordination with climate change measures, will simultaneously slow the increase in greenhouse gases and lead to improvements in environmental quality, including through the restoration of nature and ecosystems. This in turn will positively impact livelihoods and the attainment of a dignified life for all, a greener, more inclusive economy built upon circularity and life-cycle resource use. We must therefore continue to work as a global community to make progress in addressing the root causes of these threats for a clean and healthy planet. We will then achieve, in short, a healthier world population, and more resilient natural systems now and into the future”.

Rolph Payet, Executive Secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (BRS)

"“climate change is irreversible but not unstoppable. We are witnesses of a vicious circle where climate change increases the releases of hazardous chemicals while being at the same time exacerbated by them. To break this cycle and better protect the environment and people’s health, it is important to mobilize further resources, develop and implement cost-effective strategies, enhance international cooperation and, all in all, keep supporting the current multilateral environmental agreements. In the case of the Minamata Convention, and with worrying signs like the increase of mercury emissions in permafrost regions, climate action is essential to make mercury history. When problems are connected, so are the solutions”.

Monika Stankiewicz, Executive Secretary of the minamata Convention on Mercury

PRESS RELEASE

Climate change, hazardous chemicals and wastes interact, threatening biodiversity

A new report produced by the UN Secretariats of the Basel, Minamata, Rotterdam, & Stockholm conventions maps the interlinkages between hazardous chemicals, wastes and climate change, which combine to impact on efforts to conserve and restore nature.

Social media campaign launched during the week to #WorldEnvironmentDay 2021 #GenerationRestoration

Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions (BRS)

Minamata Convention on Mercury

Potential impacts

Overview of major impacts of climate change with potential links to hazardous chemicals and waste management

ARCTIC

Climate change impacts

Melting of sea ice and permafrost
Increased precipitation

Potential links to hazardous chemicals and waste management

Melting of sea ice and permafrost
Increased precipitation

AFRICA

Climate change impacts

Reduced water availability and increased droughts
Reduced crop productivity
Changes in the incidence and geographic range of vector and water borne diseases
Increased wildfires

Potential links to hazardous chemicals and waste management

Increased fertilizer and pesticide use
Increased use of insecticides
Increased use of agricultural plastics
Unintentional releases and increased movement of POPs, mercury and other chemicals

AUSTRALASIA

Climate change impacts

Increased intensity and frequency of flooding

Potential links to hazardous chemicals and waste management

Increases in releases from waste disposal sites

NORTH AMERICA

Climate change impacts

Increased wildfires
Urban floods in coastal and riverine areas
Increased cyclones

Potential links to hazardous chemicals and waste management

Unintentional releases and increased movement of POPs, mercury and other chemicals
Increases in releases from waste disposal sites and other disrupted infrastructure

CENRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA

Climate change impacts

Reduced water availability in semi-arid regions
Increased flooding and landslides in urban areas in other regions
Decreased food production and quality
Increased spread of vector-borne diseases
Increased wildfires

Potential links to hazardous chemicals and waste management

Unintentional releases and increased movement of POPs, mercury and other chemicals
Increased releases from waste disposal sites and other disrupted infrastructure
Increased fertilizer and pesticide use
Increased use of insecticides
Increased use of agricultural plastics

EUROPE

Climate change impacts

Increased impacts flooding in river basins and coasts
Reduced water availability
Increased wildfires

Potential links to hazardous chemicals and waste management

Unintentional releases and increased movement of POPs, mercury and other chemicals
Increased releases from waste disposal sites and other disrupted infrastructure
Increased fertilizer and pesticide use
Increased use of agricultural plastics

ASIA

Climate change impacts

Increased flooding in some areas, including that linked to sea level rise
Increased droughts in others
Increased wildfires

Potential links to hazardous chemicals and waste management

Unintentional releases and increased movement of POPs, mercury and other chemicals
Increased releases from waste disposal sites and other disrupted infrastructure
Increased fertilizer and pesticide use
Increased use of agricultural plastics

SMALL ISLANDS DEVELOPING STATES

Climate change impacts

Risks of coastal flooding
Heat stress
Changes in precipitation patterns

Potential links to hazardous chemicals and waste management

Increased releases from waste disposal sites and other disrupted infrastructure
Increased fertilizer and pesticide use

* Potential and scale of impact will be location specific, and in many cases can be mitigated by suitable adaptation responses Source: Physical climate risks from (IPCC, 2013b, 2014b, 2018a, 2019b). Potential links to hazardous chemicals and waste management synthesized by the authors of this document.

Interested in more updates?

The BRS conventions and the Minamata Convention on Mercury have already launched another joint study on the “Interlinkages between the chemicals and waste multilateral environmental agreements and biodiversity: Key Insights”. The complete study will be released at the Conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (July 2021), and considered at the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention (November 2021), as well as the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity convening to adopt the Global Biodiversity Framework, in late 2021.

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