The second session of the ad hoc Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG-2) on the Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste and Pollution Prevention is taking place in Nairobi, Kenya, from December 11 to December 15, 2023. Three IPCP Board Members are in attendance and are providing their daily summaries. Photo by IISD/ENB | Tallash Kantai.
IPCP Policy Brief: Considering hazards, not risk or impact, is a prerequisite for an effective SPP
We urge the science-policy panel (SPP) to adopt a hazard framework in its prioritization process to be consistent with supporting the Precautionary Principle and to effectively and efficiently avoid risk and impact.
Environmental Science & Technology Feature Paper: Scientists Flag Conflicts of Interest Ahead of UN Plastic and Chemical Talks
PRESS RELEASE An international group of 35 scientists is calling out conflicts of interest plaguing global plastic treaty negotiations and that have interfered with timely action on other health and environmental issues. They urge the implementation of strict guidelines to prevent the same problems from affecting the UN’s upcoming Science Policy Panel on chemicals. Their […]
Bonn Briefing (ICCM5 Meeting)
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.
IPCP Policy Brief: Conflicts of interest in the assessment of chemicals, waste and pollution
When developing the structure and scope for the new Science-Policy Panel it is of utmost importance to address the issue of Conflict of Interest. Specifically, experts with a Conflict of Interest participating in the decision-making process and the core work of the Panel would come with a high risk of conflicting and/or incompatible outcomes or delayed implementation of solutions.
Call for Abstracts: SETAC Seville Session
6.14 | Science for Global Management of ChemicalsChairs: Penny Vlahos, Lena Vierke, Miriam Diamond, and Marlene Ågerstrand The United Nations has identified chemical pollution as one of the three drivers threatening humanity’s future, the other two being the loss of biodiversity and climate change. For some years, concerns about chemical pollution have resulted in actions […]
General Assembly 2023
Monday, November 27, 2023 at 14-16h Central European
The 2023 General Assembly of the IPCP will once again take place remotely. All IPCP members are welcome to attend.
Science Editorial: Innovate beyond PFAS
Dr. Martin Scheringer, the IPCP Chair, was recently invited to write an editorial for Science. In his article, Dr. Scheringer calls on “chemists, material scientists, product designers, and process engineers, but also downstream users of chemicals in many sectors who have to define product requirements” to innovate beyond PFAS.
CBS News Podcast: Forever chemicals are in Canadians’ air, water and blood
Dr. Miriam Diamond, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Department of Earth Sciences and School of the Environment and IPCP Vice Chair, talks on CBS News Front Burner podcast about why PFAS or “forever chemicals are seemingly everywhere, what can be done about them, and why it’s taken so long for the government to act”.
Nature Ecology & Evolution: Better integration of chemical pollution research will further our understanding of biodiversity loss
A peer-reviewed article published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution and co-authored by a number of IPCP members and colleagues calls for the need for a stronger interdisciplinary research focus on the impacts of chemical pollution on biodiversity loss. The authors point out the importance of obligating chemical industry to make relevant data public […]