Chemicals and waste are integral to almost all sectors of society, bringing important benefits in areas from medicine and agriculture to consumer goods, clean technologies and poverty alleviation. Chemicals are used in a wide variety of products and processes, and the way the world manages chemicals will play a key role in the transition towards an inclusive green economy and the realization of a more sustainable future.
Changing patterns in the global distribution of chemical production and use have implications for the environment and human health. Effects on ecosystem resources can include contamination of air, water and soil, as well as adverse effects on wildlife. Human health effects include both chronic and acute conditions. The adverse health effects of chemicals can be exacerbated by poverty and poor nutrition, increasing susceptibility to disease.
Many chemicals, such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and mercury, travel long distance through air, migratory species and water currents. Without proper management practices in place, chemicals and the hazardous waste they generate will continue to pose significant risks to the environment.
The sound management of chemicals throughout their lifecycle is essential to avoid significant and increasingly complex risks to human health and ecosystems, and substantial costs to national economies. The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the Minamata Convention on Mercury, as well as the Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste and the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, are key multilateral environment agreements to manage chemicals and wastes.