At its fifth session held in Bonn in September 2023, the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM5), adopted the Global Framework on Chemicals – For a Planet Free of Harm from Chemicals and Waste (GFC).
Three targets directly linked to information generation on chemicals and chemicals in materials and products were agreed upon for the GFC:
Target B1 – By 2035, comprehensive data and information on the properties of chemicals are generated and made available and accessible.
Target B2 – By 2030, stakeholders make available, to the extent possible, reliable information on chemicals in materials and products throughout the value chain.
Target B3 – By 2035, stakeholders generate data on the production of chemicals, including the use of chemicals in materials and products, in addition to data on emissions and releases of chemicals and waste to the environment, making these data available and publicly accessible
Based on the resolution V/9, the ICCM5 decided to “establish an Open-ended Ad Hoc Group on Measurability and Indicators”.
In preparation for setting up the work for the Open-ended Ad Hoc Group on Measurability and Indicators, it was decided that proposals for indicators should primarily be based on ICCM5/INF.39. However, ICCM5/INF.39 was developed prior to the adoption of the GFC and, consequently, may not necessarily provide suitable indicators to some of the targets. In this information document, we account for gaps warranting the need for the development of complementary indicators. In many cases, the GFC’s adopted targets are so generically formulated that it is hard to see how they elevate ambition compared to SAICM. The suggested indicators in INF doc 39 are existing indicators that countries already report on in other contexts. Thus, per se, they also do not contribute to elevating the ambition level but could with a few significant reformulations and additions.
To address the gaps, HEJSupport, SSNC, and groundWork SA prepared an information paper focusing specifically on targets B2 and B3. For these, the most serious gaps in terms of indicators capturing the objectives of information sharing about chemicals in materials and products were identified.
Indicators suggested for the B2 and B3 targets include:
Indicator 1: Number of chemicals of concern that are identified based on the CiP Programme, listed and used for a globally harmonized chemical information transparency and traceability approach
Indicator 2: Number of countries and stakeholders that implement globally harmonized transparency of information about the identity and hazard class of chemicals and its traceability in manufactured materials and products and share it throughout the value chain with all stakeholders in line with the CiP Programme priorities.
See the complete paper here.
