The Fifth Meeting of the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM5) for the negotiations of the future of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) took place in Bonn, Germany from 25–29 September 2023. IPCP members were in attendance and provided their recaps.
Bonn Briefing: The End of a Long Journey Marks the Start of Another One
It was a very long week in Bonn for the negotiations of the future of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM). Not only because the length of the meeting was extended from the usual five days to over nine days, but also because long discussions took place nearly every day past midnight. Despite all the anxiety and fatigue from the long negotiations, the pleasure was overwhelming at the moment when the new “Global Framework on Chemicals – For a Planet Free of Harm from Chemicals and Waste” was adopted on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. after a sleepless night. The overdue sound of the gavel marked the end of a long, long journey, but also the start of a new one.
SAICM was adopted in 2006 in Dubai. Initially, it was envisioned to be a framework convention on chemicals and waste, akin to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Due to a lack of agreement until the very last minute of the negotiations, the ambition had to be scaled down to a voluntary, multi-stakeholder policy framework (more details can be found .