Phasing out Persistent Organic Pollutants

Promoting effective implementation of the Stockholm POPs Convention

WWF is promoting additional ratifications and effective implementation of the Stockholm POPs Convention - the most important effort by the global community, to date, to rein in and ultimately halt the proliferation of toxic chemicals.

Finalized in May 2001, the Convention has now been ratified by the requisite 50 parties and became binding international law for those governments on May 17, 2004. Governments, industry, and environmental and public health organizations all welcomed the Stockholm Convention as a solid framework for safeguarding people, wildlife, and the environment from the threat of POPs.

As one of the lead NGOs participating in the more than two years of important and sometimes contentious negotiations, WWF welcomes the treaty as a giant step forward. The treaty targets some of the world's most dangerous chemicals - POPs include pesticides such as chlordane, industrial chemicals such as PCBs, and by-products such as dioxins. These chemicals pose a serious threat to wildlife throughout the world including whales, dolphins, fish, birds, seals, and polar bears.

Throughout the global POPs treaty negotiation process, WWF worked with governments, NGOs, and industry stakeholders to achieve a strong and effective treaty. As a leading scientific and policy voice on toxic chemicals issues, WWF has produced a wide variety of reports and issue papers to help policymakers and the public understand the threat of POPs and the need for elimination.

WWF is also working to convince governments to commit to providing financial assistance to developing countries and those with economies in transition to ratify and implement the treaty. As the Stockholm Convention enters into force, WWF is urging additional governments to ratify and effectively implement the treaty.

WWF is also pressing for ratification of three other chemicals-related treaties, the Rotterdam Convention on prior informed consent, the Basel Convention on transboundary movement of hazardous wastes, together with its 1995 Ban on OECD to non-OECD waste transfers; and the 1996 Protocol to the London Convention on ocean dumping.

When in force and fully implemented, these four global instruments will help safeguard wildlife and people from hazardous industrial chemicals and pesticides while also tackling the collateral problems of obsolete stockpiles, hazardous materials dumped at sea, and toxic waste trafficking.

Promoting Alternatives
While stressing the urgency of phasing out and eliminating POPs, WWF also focuses on identifying and promoting acceptable, effective, and affordable alternatives to these dangerous chemicals. Viable alternatives exist for virtually all known uses and sources of these chemicals.

Utilizing cultural, biological, physical, and bio-rational control methods, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) offers the agricultural sector alternatives to POPs pesticides. Industrial chemicals such as PCBs used as insulators in electrical transformers and capacitors can be replaced by biodegradable substitutes such as mineral oils and silicone oils. As unintentional by-products of manufacturing processes and combustion, dioxins and furans pose a more difficult challenge due to their ubiquitous nature.

However, dioxin emissions can be significantly reduced through such actions as: moving away from municipal waste incineration and concentrating on expanded recycling, reuse, and composting programs; eliminating the use of chlorine bleaching in pulp and paper manufacturing; and replacing PVC plastic with other plastics that don't contain chlorine or more traditional materials such as wood, metal, paper, and glass.