Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants Meeting of the Bureau, 19 and 20 May 2008

Transcription

1 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants Meeting of the Bureau, 19 and 20 May 2008 Chair s summary 1. The Bureau of the Conference of the Parties of the Stockholm Convention met on 19 and 20 May 2008 at International Environment House in Geneva, Switzerland. 2. Mr. S.E.M. Djibo Leïty Ka (Senegal), who had replaced Mr. Thierno Lo (Senegal) as President of the Conference of the Parties of the Stockholm Convention, was not able to attend the meeting. Mr. Ka was represented by Mr. Ndiaye Cheikh Sylla (Senegal) at the meeting who served as its chair. 3. The following Vice-Presidents of the Conference of the Parties participated in the meeting: Mr. Linroy Christian (Antigua and Barbuda); Mr. Yue Ruisheng (China); Ms. Katerina Sebkova (Czech Republic); Mr. Nassereddin Heidari (Iran, Islamic Republic of): Mr. Atle Bernt Fretheim (Norway); Ms. Jane Stratford (temporary replacement for Mr. John Roberts of the United Kingdom who was unable to attend); Mr. Fernando Lugris (Uruguay) and Mr. David Kapindula (Zambia). Mr. Kapindua replaced Mr. Edward Zulu (Zambia) who was not able to complete his assigned term of office. Vice President Ms. Liudmila Marduhaeva (Republic of Moldova) was not able to attend the meeting and a temporary replacement was not named by her Government to participate in the meeting. 4. Mr. Reiner Arndt (Germany), chair of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee, attended the meeting as an ex-officio member. I. Report on the implementation of selected decisions adopted at the third meeting of the Conference of the Parties A. DDT 5. The Secretariat reported on the implementation of various decisions adopted at the third meeting of the Conference of the Parties, as outlined below, with respect to which the Secretariat sought guidance from the Bureau or thought that it would be beneficial for the members of the Bureau to communicate with the Parties in their regions. 6. The Secretariat reported on steps it had taken to prepare a business plan for the development of a global partnership to promote alternatives to DDT for disease vector control and planned future activities. The Secretariat had held a meeting with a wide range of stakeholders in October 2007, on the basis of which it was in the final stages of preparing a draft business plan. A further meeting with stakeholders, including developed and developing countries, NGOs, industry representatives, researchers and others, was scheduled for November 2008, at which time the draft business plan would be reviewed prior to its being presented at the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP4). The Secretariat sought to know whether the Bureau members agreed with the Secretariat proposal to hold the November meeting. In response to a request for clarification the Secretariat explained that the decision calling for the business plan to be developed did not mention the Global Environment Facility and that funding for the project had been entirely voluntary, including generous support from the Governments of Norway and Germany. It was also clarified that it was expected that the draft business plan would be submitted to the Expert Group on DDT for its comments shortly after the November meeting. 7. The Bureau members expressed the view that wide consultation on the business plan would be valuable and endorsed the proposed meeting. They also noted that Parties should be encouraged to provide voluntary funding for the meeting to ensure that as many Parties as possible could attend. They also agreed that the Conference of the Parties should explore at COP4 the possibility of obtaining GEF funding for projects called for under the DDT business plan in connection with the fifth replenishment of GEF.

2 B. Exemptions 8. The Secretariat explained the process for review of requests for the extension of exemptions listed in the register of specific exemptions and reported that the deadline for submitting such requests under Article 4 of the Convention had passed. The Secretariat pointed out that the Conference would have to decide how to respond to any late requests that might be submitted and asked the members of the Bureau to bring the issue to the attention of the Parties in their regions. 9. The Bureau members said that it would be advisable to consult on the issue with those in their regions as it could be expected that a number of late requests for exemption would be submitted. C. PCBs 10. The Secretariat described a proposal for consideration at COP4 on the establishment of a PCBs Environmental Sound Management club (PCB-ESM club) as part of an effort to achieve the elimination of PCBs by The club would include interested Parties, owners of PCB containing equipment, the destruction industry, funding agencies and intergovernmental agencies, among others. Present efforts were aimed at developing criteria for the club, planning for which was at the early stages. Full development of the criteria was expected to happen after COP4, following which regional meetings were planned for introducing the concept. The Secretariat sought the Bureau s support for taking the project forward. 11. The members of the Bureau expressed support for the project. The desirability of working closely with others that were doing related work, such as the Basel Convention, was stressed. D. National implementation plans 12. The Secretariat reported that currently 49 Parties have not submitted their national implementation plans (NIPs) under Article 7 of the Convention and have missed their deadlines for doing so. NIPs were important factors to be taken into account in following up decisions SC- 3/15 and SC-3/17 and were also prerequisites to eligibility for funding from GEF, whose secretariat had requested an update on the status of their preparation. The Secretariat asked that the members of the Bureau discuss the issue with the Parties from their regions. In response to a query the Secretariat outlined guidance it had prepared on developing NIPs, on social and economic assessment and on seeking GEF funding for NIP preparation, as well as guidance that was being prepared on costing NIPs, which would be ready by October The Secretariat also clarified that based on the number of countries that had applied for GEF funding for NIP preparation it appeared that nearly all of the countries that had not yet submitted their NIPs had at least started on them. What was needed was a clear indication of when they might be completed. 13. The members of the Bureau agreed that they would raise the issue in their regions as requested by the Secretariat. E. Listing chemicals in Annexes A, B and C of the Convention 14. The representative of the Secretariat reported that at its third meeting the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee had recommended five new chemicals for listing in the annexes of the Convention. It would be important, she said, to notify the Parties of that fact at least six months before COP4 and for the Secretariat to have an indication of issues that might be raised and whether any Parties would seek exemptions with respect to any chemicals listed in the annexes. There was also the prospect of another four chemicals being recommended by the Committee at its fourth meeting, in October She noted too that the chair and more than half of members of the Committee would need to be elected or re-elected at COP The Chair of the Committee, as Ex Officio member of the Bureau, then reported on the Committee s work with the five candidate chemicals, explaining that two of them raised the issue of whether chemicals that were no longer actively marketed should be listed in the annexes and that two posed complicated issues of how to name the substance to be listed and would 2

3 likely engender considerable discussion on possible exemptions, given their economic importance and the lack of alternatives for certain uses. 16. The Secretariat asked the Bureau members to raise awareness among the Parties of the need to address these issues at COP4. The Secretariat also reported on a programme of work it was developing, in response to a decision taken by the COP at its third meeing, on promoting effective participation in the work of the Committee, for which funding requests would soon be made to donors. The Secretariat was also engaged in a process of dialogue at the regional level in order to raise awareness of the issues relating to the possible listing of new chemicals in the annexes of the Convention that would come up at COP The members of the Bureau noted that the listing of new chemicals would be an important issue at COP4 and agreed that wide consultation in advance of the meeting, including through regional workshops, was highly desirable. The Executive Secretary indicated that the Secretariat would continue with its efforts to facilitate regional and subregional meetings, as well as attendance at POPRC meetings, but emphasized that funding for the participation of observers at the latter was very limited. G. Technical assistance and regional centres 18. The Secretariat described the process for selecting Stockholm Convention regional centres and reported briefly on whether the centres nominated to date appeared to meet the criteria. The Secretariat had established good communications with the nominated centres and planned to visit each of them and hold a meeting of all centre directors in Geneva, June Certain challenges, such as that the nominated centres did not provide coverage to a number of countries. The Secretariat asked that the members of the Bureau indicate their satisfaction with the Secretariat s activities to date and endorse their plans to continue with them. 19. In the discussion that followed members of the Bureau stressed that it would be important to ensure that the regional centres provided coverage to all countries and it was suggested that progress on that issue could be made at the meeting of regional centres to be held in Geneva. It was also agreed that it was important for the centres to have a clear understanding on how to access funds, both from GEF and from other sources. In that context one member suggested that it might be worth exploring with GEF the possibility of establishing a streamlined process for smaller grants that would enable the centres to obtain funding for smaller projects within perhaps six months. Another member asked whether it was possible to post on the Convention website expressions of interest in serving as a Convention regional centre that did not lead to a nomination. Another noted the documentation provided by the Secretariat revealed gaps in the information that had been provided by the nominated centres; he said that it would be important for such gaps to be filled before the Conference was asked to endorse the centres at COP The Secretariat clarified that it would report to the Conference of the Parties if it determined that any of the nominated centres did not meet the criteria for the centres established by the Conference. It also indicated that it would undertake to post all expressions of interest on the Convention website. It also observed that one nominated centre had already prepared a proposal for funding from the GEF and that all were eligible for funding from the financial mechanism, both through GEF and from other sources. It was clarified, however, that there was no scope for capacity-building or fundraising for the centres as the criteria agreed by the Conference required that they already have such capacity. 21. The members of the Bureau expressed approval for the Secretariat s activities in this area. H. Financial mechanism 22. The Secretariat reported that in accordance with decision SC-3/17 it was in the process of engaging a contractor to conduct an evaluation of the financial mechanism. The members of the Bureau were asked to urge the Parties in their regions to submit, by 30 September 2008, their NIPs, their national reports under Article 15 of the Convention and their reports on their experience in using the financial mechanism, as they would provide key sources of information for the evaluation. This information was also required to carry out the evaluation of financial resources needed to enable Parties to implement the Convention during the period 2010 to

4 required by decision SC-3/15, as well as to inform the discussions on the fifth GEF replenishment. The Bureau members agreed that they would urge the Parties in their regions to provide the needed information. It was stressed that the needs evaluation should if at all possible be concluded in time to be fully taken into account for the fifth GEF replenishment, which could be expected to conclude in October of I. Reporting 23. The Secretariat asked the Bureau members to urge the Parties in their regions to submit their national reports under Article 15 of the Convention and to provide feedback on the electronic reporting format on the Convention website. It was noted that only Parties that had nominated their national focal points would be issued the passwords needed to use the electronic format. J. Effectiveness Evaluation 24. The Secretariat reported that in preparing to provide the first report under the effectiveness evaluation at COP4, which would provide a baseline against which later-gathered data would be compared. Activities had been commenced aimed at compiling data on POPs levels in the core media,, human milk and/or blood and ambient air, as well as in additional data generation in regions which would otherwise not be sufficient covered. Regional groups that would collect the data as well as a global coordinating group consisting of the regional groups had been established and had begun to cooperate. The groups had noted a need for capacitybuilding and funding to that end had been provided by Sweden, Japan and Australia. Three projects in Africa and the Asia-Pacific region had been approved for GEF small and mediumsized project funding at the project identification form (PIF) phase and several others in other regions were being developed. 25. At the Secretariat s request the Bureau members said that rather than presenting large amounts of raw data at COP4 the Secretariat should engage a consultant to compile and analyse the data being obtained. Large amounts of raw data, it was felt, would be difficult for the Conference to consider. One of the Bureau members praised the secretariat for the quality of a workshop held in his region, which had revealed that his region suffered a lack of data with which to establish a baseline. It would therefore be necessary to undertake as many projects as possible, for which GEF funding would be needed. Other members echoed the view that more data was needed and also stressed the need for capacity-building and financial and technical assistance relating to data collection. K. Synergies 26. The Secretariat outlined the work of the Joint Ad hoc Working Group on Cooperation and Coordination among the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, noting that the recommendations of the working group would be taken up by the conferences of the Parties to the three conventions at their next meetings. The Executive Director of UNEP and the convention secretariats would be providing additional information to the three conferences to assist them in their consideration and possible adoption of the recommendations, which called for among other things the holding of a simultaneous extraordinary meeting of the three conferences, at which they would consider proposals on mechanisms for the joint management of the three conventions.. The Secretariat emphasized that the cooperation between the Rotterdam and Stockholm Convention Secretariats, including through various joint services, already exceeded that called for by the working group. Adoption of its recommendations, however, would mean that the Basel Convention too would participate in such arrangements. 27. The ex-officio member expressed concern that the trial period called for in the working group s recommendation might be too short to allow for adequate evaluation at the extraordinary meeting of the three conferences of the Parties of any joint arrangements. He suggested, therefore, that the Bureau consider encouraging the Secretariat to begin working immediately with the Basel Convention Secretariat, should the Basel Conference of the Parties adopt the working group s recommendations, rather than wait until adoption of the recommendations by the conferences of the Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions. 4

5 28. The Bureau members agreed that they would share the information and documents about the synergies process and upcoming synergies decisions to be taken by the three conferences of the Parties with the Parties in their regions. L. Resource mobilization II. 29. The Secretariat recalled decision SC-3/14 on resource mobilization, which among other things invited developed country Parties and others to provide information to the Secretariat on ways in which they could support the Convention and requested the Secretariat to report on such information at COP4. The Secretariat reported that it had to date received no information in accordance with decision SC-3/14. The Secretariat outlined in some detail efforts it was making to raise extrabudgetary funds from sources other than GEF, including for example a resurrected Canada POPs fund through the development of thematic programmes addressing particular issues on a global scale, which would be implemented by partners under the Stockholm Convention brand. It described a number of such projects including with respect to the effectiveness evaluation, technical assistance, PCBs, DDT and effective participation in the work of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee. The Secretariat would discuss these efforts in detail in the paper it was to prepare in response to decision SC-3/14 but it still lacked the information from Parties and others that was to be provided under the decision. It therefore asked the members of the Bureau to raise the matter with stakeholders in their regions. 30. The Bureau members agreed that it would be important for the Secretariat to receive the information requested in decision SC-3/14 and said that they looked forward to reviewing the paper to be prepared by the Secretariat. Status of preparations for the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties A. Venue 31. The Secretariat reported that COP4 would take place at the Centre International des Conferences de Geneve in Geneva. It was noted that registration would begin on the Sunday preceding the meeting, that security would be relatively tight for the high-level segment and that it could be difficult to secure hotel rooms in Geneva. 32. The members of the Bureau took note of the information presented. B. Funding for participant travel 33. The item was discussed in connection with the item on budget and programme of work. See chapter III. G. below. C. High-level segment of the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties 34. The Secretariat outlined ideas for the conduct of the high-level segment of the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, stressing that no plans had yet been set. The segment would take place on Thursday and Friday, the last two days of the meeting. The Secretariat contemplated a structure in which ministers would make statements, perhaps on a specified theme, on the morning of the first day of the segment. The afternoon of the same day would feature roundtable discussions, the results of which would be summarized and fed into a president s summary of the entire high-level segment. On the second day selected ministers might be asked to give brief remarks to open side events, which would be limited in number and structured around a common theme. The goal was to respond to comments that the Secretariat had received to the effect that ministers wanted their participation at meetings of multilateral environmental agreements to be more meaningful, especially if they were travelling very far to reach the meeting venue. 35. The members of the Bureau praised the goal of enhancing the participation of ministers but suggested that the arrangements would require careful planning and execution. A particular concern would be the number of ministers that would attend and the corresponding amount of time that would be required for them to make statements and participate in any other events. It 5

6 was also noted that it would be optimal to structure things such that ministers could be present for the adoption of important decisions such as on the listing of new chemicals in the annexes of the Convention, but it was recognized that that such decisions would likely be adopted on the last day of the meeting, which might preclude some ministers from participating. 36. It was agreed that the Secretariat would prepare a detailed tentative proposal taking into account the remarks of the Bureau members and circulate it to the members for comment. D. Election of officers 37. The Secretariat reported that in accordance with the practice of rotation among the regions the Asia-Pacific region would need to nominate a candidate for President of the Conference, who would be elected at the start of the fourth meeting. The president would commence his or her term upon election and would serve with the current vice-presidents of the Bureau during the fourth meeting, following which the terms of the current vice-presidents would end, while that of the president would continue until the election of a new president at the fifth meeting of the Conference. It was noted too that if the newly elected president came from a country other than China or Iran then a member of the Bureau from one of those countries would have to resign, as there could be no more than two members of the Bureau from any region. 38. The members of the Bureau took note of the information presented. Those from China and Iran indicated that they would take up with the Parties from their region the need to put forth a candidate for President of the Conference. E. Organization of work 39. The Secretariat outlined the expected flow of COP4 based on experience at prior meetings and taking into account the issues on the agenda. Stress was placed on the importance of establishing contact groups on key issues such as listing chemicals in the annexes of the Convention and the effectiveness evaluation. The possibility of establishing a committee of the whole to allow detailed substantive work to continue simultaneously with the high-level segment was raised and it was agreed that the Secretariat would give further consideration to it. Full details on the expected flow of the meeting would be set out in the scenario note that would be prepared by the Secretariat as a pre-session document 40. The members of the Bureau took note of the information presented. E. Credentials 41. The Secretariat recalled that the Conference of the Parties at its third meeting had decided to strictly conform with the rules on credentials for representatives of Parties set forth in the rules of procedure and had accordingly agreed that six Parties whose representatives had not submitted credentials in proper form had been recorded in the report of the meeting as having participated as observers. The Secretariat outlined the rules as to what constituted proper credentials and noted that, should the Conference take the approach it had adopted at its third meeting, the lack of credentials might affect a Party s ability to participate in decision making at COP4. In response to a query it was clarified that valid credentials could only be issued by a head of State or Government or a minister for foreign affairs. 42. The members of the Bureau agreed to urge the Parties in their regions to come to the fourth meeting of the Parties with proper credentials in order to ensure their ability to participate fully in the meeting. F. Work programme and budget for 2010 and The Secretariat outlined the status of the Convention s general and special trust funds. It also reported on implementation of the decision of the Conference of the Parties calling for it to present the Convention budget at COP4 in both the previous format and the new results-based format called for by the Parties in decision SC-3/ The general trust fund starting balance at 31 December 2007 (i.e., on the eve of the biennium) was approximately $823,000. As the Secretariat had no authority to use those unspent funds in the new biennium the Conference of the Parties would have to decide at 6

7 its fourth meeting how they should be spent or refunded to Parties. For the 2008/2009 biennium, as of 20 May 2008, there was a shortfall in the payment of assessed contributions of approximately $1,194,149, which could affect the ability of the Secretariat to carry out mandated activities. A reminder letter to request payment of assessed contributions would be sent out. 45. The starting balance for the voluntary trust fund at 31 December 2007 was $2,301,954. Taking into account the starting balance and contributions of $349,919, the voluntary trust fund had a shortfall of approximately $91,800 compared with the approved programme of work, which had been budgeted at $2,743, The funds in the voluntary trust fund could be used in the current biennium but much of it was earmarked. As a result only approximately $100,000 was currently available to defray the cost of participant travel to COP4, the cost of which was estimated at $750,000. The Secretariat was reviewing various options to ensure the availability of funds for such travel, including targeted fund-raising and the curtailment of programmed activities in It was expected that voluntary contributions would continue to come in and reduce the estimated $650,000 shortfall in funds need for COP4 travel but there was concern that there might still be a relatively small deficit at the time related expenditures would have to be made. The Secretariat accordingly sought the Bureau s approval of a proposal to make up whatever deficit that still remained for COP-4 participant travel prior to the meeting from the fund balance of $823,000 in the general trust fund from the biennium. 47. The Secretariat reported that pursuant to decision SC-3/1 it would present the budget for the current biennium and the biennium in both the previous budget format and the new results-based format required under decision SC-3/1. It noted, however, that it would be very difficult and perhaps not possible to recast the current biennium budget in the results-based format and accordingly asked the Bureau whether it might forego attempting to do so. The same issue had arisen in the context of the Rotterdam Convention. In that case, the bureau of the Rotterdam Convention COP agreed that it was not necessary for the secretariat to re-cast the current budget in the new results-based format as requested by its COP. 48. The members of the Bureau acknowledged that presenting the current biennium budget in the results-based format would be prohibitively difficult and, subject to further consultations by one member with other Parties, agreed that the Secretariat need not attempt to do so. (Several days after the meeting the one member reported that following the necessary consultations she too agreed that the Secretariat need not present the current biennium budget in the results-based format.) The Bureau members also agreed that the Secretariat could use the fund balance in the general trust fund from the biennium to pay for participant travel to the extent that funds in the special trust fund were insufficient to do so. In connection with the latter, however, they stressed that the Secretariat should make every effort to obtain sufficient voluntary contributions to fund participant travel without resort to the funds in the general trust fund. G. Documents 49. The Secretariat outlined the process for producing documents for consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its fourth meeting, including writing, editing and translation and associated deadlines. 50. The members of the Bureau took note of the information. IV. Other matters A. Proposal to discuss at COP4 elevating the post of Executive Secretary to the D-2 level 51. One member proposed that the Bureau add to the agenda for COP4 the question of whether the post of Executive Secretary of the Convention should be upgraded from the D-1 level to the D-2 level. The Executive Secretary was asked to leave the meeting room during the Bureau s discussion of the matter. The member suggested that raising the Executive Secretary to the D-2 level would increase the incumbent s access and influence and send a signal about the importance of the Convention among the multilateral environmental agreements. Following discussion the Bureau agreed to put the matter on the agenda as a sub-item under the item on 7

8 activities of the Secretariat and adoption of the budget. Several members stressed that their agreement to put the matter on the COP4 agenda did not imply anything either positive or negative on the substantive question of whether the Executive Secretary post should be raised to the D-2 level. 52. One member stressed the need for African regional meetings involving Stockholm Convention official contact points and national focal points. The secretariat indicated that there may be opportunities for such meetings to be included in other workshops and meetings being organized by the Secretariat or others, including the secretariats of the Basel and Rotterdam Conventions and of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management. The Secretariat offered to look at upcoming activities, in Africa, to see where such regional meetings could be added and to organize such meeting where appropriate and resources allow. B. Expression of condolences to the people of China 53. At the close of the meeting the Executive Secretary and the members of the Bureau, addressing the member of the Bureau from China, expressed their profound sorrow at the tragic consequences of the earthquake that had recently struck China. 8