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OUTCOMES OF THE SEMINAR
“PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS AND HUMAN HEALTH"
Moscow, 15-16 May, 2001
We, representatives of non-governmental organisations of
Russia and experts - participants of seminar “PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS AND HUMAN
HEALTH" think it important to express our views on the problem of elimination of
persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and participation of Russia in implementation of
Stockholm Convention. We express our grave concerns about continuous health impact of
POPs, generating substantial adverse health impacts, provoking development of immune and
reproductive disorders, birth defects and malignant growth. Stockholm Convention is the
first international instrument, that obliges governments to undertake actions for
elimination of these pollutants. In this connection, we believe that:
1. Accedence of Russia to Stockholm Convention is of extreme relevance to
our country and the global community, because:
Stockholm Convention is an important component of international
environmental protection processes. Active participation of Russia in implementation of
these documents appears to be necessary.
mechanisms of elimination of POPs, incorporated into Stockholm
Convention (including imposition of bans for production and use of POPs and replacement of
POPs by environment-friendly alternatives), provide opportunities for international
co-operation in reduction of POPs emissions and, if possible, in their complete
elimination. Use of these mechanisms would allow to improve efficiency of reduction of
POPs releases world-wide substantially.
accedence of Russia to Stockholm Convention would allow to attract
investments (both internal and external) for modernisation of Russian industry, for
programs of reduction of dioxin emissions; for development of alternatives to POPs,
elimination of accumulated stockpiles of PCBs and other POPs, rehabilitation of
contaminated territories and utilisation of wastes, contaminated by POPs.
2. Besides that, accedence of Russia to Stockholm
Convention would generate substantial additional benefits, including:
reduction of local emissions;
resolving of local environmental problems;
reduction of health and environmental risks, resolving of environmental
and social problems;
improvement of investment climate (including the sphere of investments
for environmental activities);
prevention of migration of "dirty" production processes and
outdated technologies;
integration of environmental concerns into business practices;
development of incentives for introduction of state of the art
solutions, including Russian know-how;
We believe, that in order to use these opportunities
efficiently, Russia should establish the necessary infrastructure for implementation of
international co-operation mechanisms within the framework of Stockholm Convention.
We attract attention of member-countries of the
Diplomatic Conference Stockholm to the need:
To sign Stockholm Convention;
To ensure its prompt ratification and entry into force;
To undertake urgent actions for elimination of POPs. These actions
should be implemented now, the actions should not be postponed for the time of
ratification of Stockholm Convention and its entry into force;
To promote expansion of the initial list of 12 POPs for incorporation of
additional persistent toxic organic substances, that generate adverse health and
environmental impacts and must be eliminated;
To provide finance assistance to developing countries and economies in
transition for fulfilment of their commitments under Stockholm Convention;
To promote implementation of POPs inventory projects;
To ensure transparency of use of funds, allocated for implementation of
programs for elimination of POPs and stockpiles of these substances; for rehabilitation of
contaminated areas and development of environment-friendly alternatives to POPs;
To prevent migration of "dirty" technologies, generating POPs
and other persistent toxic substances to developing countries and economies in transition;
To facilitate public participation in the process of implementation of
Stockholm Convention at local, national and international levels.
We call Russian authorities and other
organisations, that develop and make decisions on matters of persistent organic pollutants
and other toxic substances, affecting health and environment (the Ministry for Natural
Resources, the State Duma, the Public Health Ministry):
To ensure accedence of Russia to Stockholm Convention on elimination of
twelve POPs;
To place the issue of ratification of Stockholm Convention on the agenda
of the Russian legislators;
To guarantee efficient public participation in activities, associated
with implementation of Stockholm Convention - development of policies, laws and
regulations, specific plants, programs and projects. It is necessary to ensure provision
of complete and timely information to all concerned public groups, to provide them
opportunities to express their views on the matter and to account for these views in
decision-making processes. It is extremely important to incorporate public representatives
into task forces, councils and official delegations, dealing with relevant issues.
To establish an independent entity, that should ensure transparency of
cash flows, channelled to elimination of POPs and stockpiles of these chemicals,
rehabilitation of contaminated areas, development of environment-friendly alternatives to
POPs; to make operations of the above entity transparent to the general public and
financing organisations.
We, Russian NGOs - participants of the seminar,
have agreed to undertake the following actions for implementation of Stockholm Convention
in Russia:
1. To implement information campaigns for the
general public, namely:
To co-operate with mass media outlets in publicising issues, associated
with hazardous properties of POPs and other persistent toxic substances in relation to
human health and environment;
To implement information campaigns against garbage incineration plants,
that employ dioxin-generating technologies; against transfer of other POPs-risky
"dirty" technologies to Russia;
To disseminate information materials, dealing with monitoring of
processes of implementation of Stockholm Convention in Russia; to influence public opinion
on matters of elimination of POPs and stockpiles of these substances; to inform
decision-makers on public views;
To explain reasons, necessitating implementation of provisions of
Stockholm Convention even before its entry into force;
To disseminate information on implementation of projects dealing with
elimination of POPs and their sources, rehabilitation of contaminated areas and production
of environment-friendly alternatives to POPs;
To promote open and equal public access to information on POPs releases,
POPs levels in waste and areas, contaminated by persistent organic pollutants;
To insist on transparency of information, pertaining to mobilisation and
spending of funds, allocated to implementation of specific programs in the sphere of
elimination of POPs and their sources and stockpiles; on transparency of legislative
processes in the sphere;
To develop and disseminate publications, dedicated to success stories of
addressing POPs problems, improvement of environmental quality and health status of the
population.
2. To influence actively the decision-making process on
POPs matters by:
participation in development of draft legislative acts of the Russian
Federation, necessary for implementation of Stockholm Convention;
participation in development of specific projects, programs, plans for
elimination of POPs, rehabilitation of contaminated areas, development and introduction of
environment-friendly alternatives to POPs;
participation in selection of priority projects for implementation of
Stockholm Convention;
participation in monitoring and assessment of fulfilment of commitments,
pertaining to control of emissions of POPs and other toxic substances;
participation in monitoring of spending of funds, allocated for
implementation of specific projects, plans and programs for environmental protection and
implementation of know-how for reduction of emissions of POPs and other persistent toxic
substances;
participation in projects for inventory, monitoring, registration and
verification of POPs emissions in Russia.
To intensify public environmental assessments and EIA procedures for
projects, designed for reduction of emissions of dioxins and dioxin-like compounds and
other persistent toxic substances. To initiate public hearings and opinion polls.
To facilitate public access to justice on matters of
implementation of Stockholm Convention, protection of environmental rights of citizens in
the course of elimination of POPs and stockpiles of these compounds and implementation of
new environment-friendly technologies.
To prevent migration of "dirty technologies" to Russia, in
particular, garbage incineration plants for solid municipal waste.
To facilitate development of alternative waste utilisation technologies,
that are not accompanied by releases of POPs and other toxic substances.
To promote safe utilisation of medical waste, jointly with municipal,
regional and federal public health authorities.
To build capacity of different social sectors in the sphere of POPs and
other persistent toxic substances; to promote public involvement into the process of
making decisions of environmental significance in the sphere of elimination of POPs and
sources of these compounds: e.g. to arrange trainings, seminars, conferences for
non-governmental organisations, journalists, representative of the state sector. These
conferences should also involve representatives of donors and businesses, willing to
invest their money into environmentally significant projects in Russia.
To facilitate the dialogue between different social sectors for open
discussion of issues. associated with elimination of POPs, rehabilitation of contaminated
areas and introduction of environment-friendly technologies and alternatives to POPs,
focusing on the dialogue between representatives of businesses, industries, governmental
environmental agencies and the general public.
To develop co-operation between Russian NGOs and NGOs of NIS, Europe, US
and other countries.
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