New agreement on environmental pollutants
Finland and about 100 other countries today signed an international treaty that limits the use and emission of persistent organic pollutants. The treaty was signed at a meeting in Stockholm.
The so-called POP treaty covers 12 highly toxic substances, known as the Dirty Dozen. The agreement aims to ban the production and use of 10 pesticides and industrial chemicals and limit the discharge of dioxins and furans. The treaty will come into force once 50 countries have ratified it. Mr Kari Karanko, head of unit at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, signed the treaty on behalf of Finland.
The POP treaty was agreed unanimously last December in Johannesburg by the 122 countries that negotiated it.
The treaty contains regulations restricting the use and handling of environmental pollutants and concerning funding activities needed in developing countries and countries in economic transition. It incorporates the principle of advance precaution.
The treaty makes exceptions to the ban on the use of certain pollutants. In certain developing countries the limited use of DDT to control malaria will continue when necessary. Also, Russia has applied for the right to produce and use DDT against malaria. The World Health Organization has recently reported on the use of other pesticides and methods of controlling malaria mosquitoes to replace the use of DDT.
According to the treaty aid is to be provided to developing countries and countries with transition economies to improve their expertise and technical readiness to stop using environmental pollutants. Resources for this will be channelled via the Global Environment Facility. The main players in the GEF are the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme. In addition, the GEF has special help in carrying out the POP treaty from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
The treaty is seen as a significant step forward in particular for the Arctic environment and for the indigenous peoples living in the region. POP compounds spread to the Arctic area far away from their source of discharge. There they concentrate in the food chain and, though present only in small quantities, cause serious damage to the environment and people’s health.
“As the current chair of the Arctic Council, Finland emphasises the problems caused by the emissions of pollutants and the spread of them into people’s food,” said Counsellor Peter Stenlund, speaking on behalf of the Arctic Council at the Stockholm meeting. “The achievement of the international POP treaty has been one of the central aims of the Arctic environmental protection strategy that was adopted 10 years ago in Rovaniemi. The 10th anniversary meeting of what is called the ‘Rovaniemi process’ will be held in that city at the beginning of June. At it we will discuss new goals for Arctic environmental cooperation .”
Further information: Head of Unit Kari Karanko, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel: 040 837 8562, Consulting Counsellor Pirkko Kivelä-Ikonen, Ministry of the Environment, tel: 050 362 2041, and
Consulting Counsellor Peter Stenlund, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel: 040 545 1295