Humans use over 100,000 different chemical elements and compounds, including lead, mercury, cadmium and persistent organic pollutants. Global chemical sales are projected to almost double from 2017 to 2030. If not managed properly, chemicals can have severe impacts on human health, causing acute poisoning, cancers, birth defects, neurological disorders, hormone disruption and other grave illnesses. The burden of disease from selected chemicals was estimated at 1.6 million lives and 44.8 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in 2016. Lead poisoning in children costs an estimated US$977 billion dollars per year—equivalent to 1.2 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product—by lowering the IQ of children in low- and middle-income countries. In adults, lead is responsible for 4 per cent of ischemic heart disease and 6.6 per cent of strokes. Chemical pollution also depletes the ozone layer and disrupts delicate species and ecosystems.
UN Environment Programme hosts the secretariats of the Minamata Convention, which addresses the adverse effects of mercury, and the voluntary multi-stakeholder Global Mercury Partnership, the Secretariats of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions as well as the Ozone Secretariat which regulates substances that deplete the ozone layer.
It also provides the secretariat for the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM), a voluntary multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral policy framework to promote chemicals safety around the world. The intersessional process to prepare the recommendations regarding the Strategic Approach and the sound management of chemicals and waste beyond 2020 is currently ongoing.
UNEP also provided the secretariat for the Special Programme, also known as the Chemicals and Waste Management Programme. This programme supports institutional strengthening at the national level to enhance the implementation of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, the Minamata Convention and SAICM
Together with the World Health Organization, we lead the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead in Paint, which aims to eliminate the use of lead in paint by 2020. We also lead the Global Alliance for the Development of Alternatives to DDT, a partnership to scale up best practices and accelerate the development and deployment of alternative pest control. Through the international Flexible Framework Initiative for Addressing Chemical Accident Prevention and Preparedness (or CAPP), we support activities to raise awareness and build the capacities of communities, industry and governments about emergency prevention and preparedness.
UNEP’s Global Chemicals Outlook identifies key trends and policy analysis to inform international discussions on chemicals and waste management. The second edition of the Outlook was published in 2019.
See reports on chemicals and waste for UNEA5 here. The works cover the science -policy interface, linkages with other clusters, assessing current and emerging issues of global concern, environmental and health impacts of pesticides and fertilizers, environmental impacts of antimicrobial resistance and manuals on green and sustainable chemistry.
Find out more about UNEP's work on chemicals and waste.