On Tuesday, delegates to the 2019 meetings of the Conferences of the Parties (COP) to the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm (BRS) Conventions devoted most of the day to issues of concern to two or more of the Conventions, including international cooperation and coordination, financial resources, and program of work and budget. In the late afternoon, they turned their attention to Stockholm Convention-specific work, including a listing of chemicals.

In the joint sessions of the three COPs, participants spent significant time on an initial exchange of views on compliance under the Rotterdam Convention, a long-standing issue that has narrowly eluded consensus in recent years. Many emphasized the need for progress toward the establishment of a compliance mechanism at this meeting, building on past support for a facilitative, non-punitive approach.

In the late afternoon, delegates discussed the Stockholm Convention’s evaluation of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts, and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride (PFOS, its salts, and PFOSF). Under this item, most delegates supported the recommendation of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee to eliminate several acceptable purposes and specific exemptions for continued production and use of this industrial chemical.

Delegates from Govt. of Bangladesh and ESDO Executive Director Ms. Siddika Sultan have been attending this meeting. For more details on the day’s events and to hear what delegates said in the corridors, see Earth Negotiations Bulletin.