Guest blog: On the Way to a New Chemicals Framework? Ahead of the second meeting to reform SAICM and the governance architecture on chemicals and waste
Guest blog by Nils Simon Senior Project Manager adelphi research and political scientist @nsim_berlin Last December, when the UN Environment Assembly met for the third time, it gathered under the slogan “Towards a Pollution-free Planet”. Those were strong words, yet the outcomes fell short of what’s needed to actually get there. Just a few weeks before UNEA3 met in Nairobi, the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health concluded that pollution “is the largest environmental cause of disease and premature death in the world today.” Though apparently not the most deadly, chemical pollution is a particularly troubling kind. We know that many chemicals are hazardous and take a heavy toll on human health and the environment. Yet we are lacking data about the presence and impacts of many hazardous substances throughout their life-cycle. That’s why we barely know how many people are seriously injured or even die because they are exposed to chemicals. Th...