UNEP POW 2010-11

Project objective

Global assessments of the production, trade, use, socio-economic impacts, management and control of harmful substances and hazardous waste to inform the international community.

PoW Output

522: Global assessment of policies and trends with respect to harmful substances and hazardous waste to inform policy makers of potential health and environmental risks and benefits are linked to use of chemicals and generation of waste products

This project also contributes in part to PoW output

525: Tools and methodologies for monitoring, evaluating and reporting progress in sound life-cycle management of harmful substances and hazardous waste are developed and tested

Problem statement

The OECD environmental outlook for the chemicals industry provides the trends and future prospects for economic and environmental developments relevant to the chemicals industry. Recent editions of this outlook highlight the rapidly changing nature and composition of the chemicals industry with the number of producers, overall production, and use of chemicals all increasing in developing countries while industry in the OECD countries consolidates and shifts towards the production of life-science and speciality chemicals. These changes provide considerable challenges to the international community as it works towards sound management of chemicals and the 2020 goal. While OECD continues to assist its member states to continue their efforts to reduce risks posed by chemicals production and use, the changes in the industry now require a more global approach that includes consideration of environmental and socio-economic impacts not typically included on balance sheets or in economic development considerations.

The global economy is seeing rapid increases in the generation of all forms of waste and the global trade of many forms of industrial or product-related waste; waste volumes are predicted to grow at rates correlated with GDP in the foreseeable future. These increases are not matched by the growth in the environmentally sound management of waste. This widening gap is exploited by unscrupulous waste operators giving rise to illegal waste movements and dumping for which few statistics are available. These effects can be particularly severe in developing countries.

Balancing the needs for economic and social development with the sound management of harmful substances and hazardous wastes is problematic for developing countries that lack capacity and resources to assess the consequences of current strategies and to implement, monitor and enforce safeguards. Furthermore, such safeguards are often perceived as acting as a brake on efforts towards the Millenium Development Goals rather than a means to meet such targets in an holistic and sustainable manner.

Proposed UNEP response

1. Prepare a Global Outlook on harmful substances and hazardous waste;

2. Develop global partnership/platform on waste management.

3. Develop harmful substances and hazardous waste elements of the UNEP Global Environmental Alert Service (GEAS)

4. Promote sound chemicals and waste management as a contribution to the Green Economy;

5. Leverage responsible investment for sound chemicals and waste management;

6. Develop, publish and disseminate knowledge and foresight products based on the Global Outlook and its key findings

Rationale for the proposed response

This project will develop a Global Outlook on harmful substances and hazardous waste policies and trends in production and use, and their potential impacts on human health and the environment. This Outlook will assess the implications for chemicals and waste management; provide a coherent framework for assessing and setting priorities for international attention, including through SAICM; and identify opportunities for the sector to contribute to economic development via the Green Economy initiative.

The critical role of the financial, investment and insurance institutions in driving and facilitating change in the chemicals industry is recognized and provides a further entry point for UNEP interventions. Responsible investment, requiring consideration of the principles of sound management of chemicals and hazardous wastes, will be promoted.

The proposed response brings together key elements within UNEP – DTIE (Chemicals, IETC, ETB and FI), DEWA and its collaborativing centres and networks, DCPI and DRC/ROs to ensure that this project becomes a strategically significant contribution to the international debate on chemicals and waste, and the issues of importance that are emerging.

The project outputs will contribute to and be delivered through the UNEP Year Book and the Global Environmental Outlook series using the UNEP GEO Data Portal and building up to the UNEP-Live Platform. As such, it contributes to bridging the gap between science and policy, raise scientific understanding and enhance awareness of decision-makers to improve decision making and policy development and implementation.

Components & time frame

1. Prepare a Global Outlook on harmful substances and hazardous waste

1. Gather and interpret data and information on the global production, trade and use of harmful substances and hazardous waste and their socio-economic consequences, including through regional assessments;

2. Assess changes in the environmental and human exposure risks as a result of changing production and consumption patterns, in particular for developing and transition-economy countries

2010-

3. Gather and interpret data and information on production, trade and use of radioactive sources and the impacts of their use

2010-

4. Impacts on marine environments of harmful substances and hazardous waste arising from the exploitation of non-living marine resources

2010-2011

Deliverables: Global Outlook trends and key findings (mid 2011); Global assessment on Exposure to Radiation (mid 2011); Assessment of potential for release of hazardous waste through exploitation of non living marine resources (mid 2011)

2. Develop global partnership/platform on waste management

1. Collect and disseminate knowledge on all the aspects of waste management including technologies, financing, policies and stakeholders’ participation to manage all types of wastes such as municipal waste, industrial waste, healthcare waste, construction and demolition waste, sludge, hazardous waste, E-waste/WEEE and waste agricultural biomass

2010-2011

2. Support and facilitate policy level dialogues at all levels including global, regional, sub-regional, national and local

Late 2010-2011

3. Facilitate building partnerships and cooperation among various agencies and governments to optimize the impact of the support and efforts of international agencies and governments

2010

4. Explore and facilitate partnerships including public-private partnerships

2010-2011

5. Support the decision-making on environmentally sound technologies (EST) for waste management

2011

Deliverables: Partnership initiated (mid 2010); Business plans for BAT/BEP development in different partnership areas (end 2010); Draft BAT/BEP – EST guidance for priority waste areas end 2011

3. Develop harmful substances and hazardous waste elements of the UNEP Global Environmental Alert Service (GEAS)

1. Use the Global Outlook to determine risk-based criteria compatible with the GEAS;

2010

2. Build harmful substances and hazardous waste elements of GEAS;

2010-2011

3. Deliver harmful substances and hazardous waste alerts via the GEAS system

2011

Deliverables: HS&HW elements of GEAS operational (mid-2011)

4. Promote sound chemicals and waste management as a contribution to the Green Economy

1. Identify economic and financial drivers influencing production, trade, and use of chemicals and the management of harmful substances and hazardous wastes;

2010

2. Examine the potential of sound chemicals and waste management to contribute to green growth and generate employment in different economic sectors thus contributing to poverty reduction whilst addressing environmental and health risks;

2010

3. Identify and measure environmental and social factors external to current economic consideration of the sound management of chemicals and wastes and demonstrate their influence and impact on development planning at national and regional levels;

2010-2011

4. Engage important change agents and stakeholders and encourage their consideration of current environmental and social externalities in industrial and economic planning.

2011

Deliverables: Chemicals and waste chapters of the Green Economy reports, progressively through the biennium; Outreach and awareness campaign to key stakeholders

5. Leverage responsible investment for sound chemicals and waste management

1. Identify the principal financing, investment and insurance institutions providing financial and risk management services to the chemicals and waste industries and the key drivers for their investment and insurance practices;

2010

2. Engage principal institutional groups in the development and application of principles that promote responsible investment and insurance risk planning compatible with the sound management of chemicals and waste;

2010-2011

3. Develop reputation-based monitoring and reporting schemes for institutional stakeholders to demonstrate the value of sound management of chemicals in investment returns and insurance risk reduction.

2011

Deliverables: Assessment of investment drivers (2010), Outreach campaign to principal investment actors (2010/11); Draft responsible investment principles (mid 2011)

6. Develop, publish and disseminate knowledge and foresight products based on the Global Outlook and its key findings

1. Prepare and publish elements of the Global Outlook as the sub-programme contribution to the Global Environment Outlook (GEO) series using the UNEP/GEO Data Portal starting with GEO-5 and building up to the UNEP-Live

2011

2. Enhance and use the GEO Data Portal as a repository for data and information for the Global Outlook.

2010-2011

3. Develop the UNEP Live Platform to facilitate the conduct of assessments; for data and information exchange and use; and as a tool for outreach and communication.

2011

4. Deliver and contribute to the UNEP Year Book on new science and trends in harmful substances and hazardous waste for policy makers

2011

5. Provide multi-media services to raise awareness and disseminate findings and promote actions to address issues of regional and international concern

2011

Deliverables: HSHW elements of GEO data portal initiated and operational mid 2011; GEO-5 and UNEP Year Book delivered to GC 26 -2011 and GCSSXII in 2012; range of multi-media products on key topics (see also project 53-P6)

Sustainability of the results

The Global Outlook and its outcomes will contribute to and provide a basis for UNEP and ICCM considerations in the development of their policy and strategic frameworks in the field of chemicals and waste management

Comparative advantage of UNEP and partners

The project builds on UNEP’s capabilities in gathering and interpreting global scientific data and information for policy development and implementation and builds on existing initiatives in relation to the Green Economy and to the finance and insurance industries.

Socio-econ & developmental challenges, opportunities

The Global Outlook focuses on shifting trends in chemicals production and use affecting regions of developing countries which have the least capacities to deal adequately with such complex issues. It aims at establishing scientifically based economic arguments for providing technical and financial support for the sound management of chemicals

Relevance of the project to national and/or regional development and/or economic priorities

In highlighting the trends, the impacts and making the economic case for the sound management of chemicals, the Global Outlook will contribute to elevate the management of chemicals within the national and regional policy agenda and as such contribute to setting sound management of chemicals as a priority and key factor to achieve the national and regional economic development objectives.

Role and responsibility

Accountable, division:

• DTIE (Chemicals)

Managing division:

DTIE (Chemicals) will coordinate the project as a whole.

Component 1 of the project will be managed by DTIE (Chemicals Branch) with assistance from an international steering group comprising governments, industry, academia, and civil society organisations; DEWA (UNSCEAR) and DEPI (Marine and Coastal Ecosystem Branch) will be responsible for particular activities;

Component 2 of the project will be managed by DTIE (IETC);

Component 4 of the project will be managed by DTIE (ETB) as part of the Green Economy initiative;

Component 5 of the project will be managed by DTIE (FI) as part of the Finance Initiative;

Components 3 and 6 of the project will be managed by DEWA.

Other divisions:

DCPI will assist DTIE and DEWA in developing the publications and outreach materials to be delivered by the project.

DRC/ROs will assist in engaging regional support and beneficiary inputs to particular elements of the work as well as in delivering outreach and awareness raising.

Supporting partners

OECD will partner UNEP’s work sharing the data and information sets from its Global Outlook process through the IOMC collaboration. Other IOMC organisations will be consulted on particular issues and may contribute information and knowledge.

Cooperation with the Secretariat of the Basel Convention will be important in component 2 of the project.

A steering group comprising governments, industry, workers organizations, civil society organizations and academia is in place.

GRID-ARENDAL working with DEWA will deliver component 1d. Links to other UNEP collaborating centres and networks will provide additional data and information.

Regions and countries

Activities of this project are likely to be global in scale although particular elements may require inputs at the national and regional levels.