Canada is sending a terrible message to the rest of the world. Oppose responsible trade; reject scientific evidence; obstruct international co-operation.
In February 2015, IPEN participated in the Central Asia and Eastern Europe Sub-Regional Workshop in Support of the Ratification and Early Implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury that took place in Minsk, Belarus. A presentation, "Деятельность IPEN по решению проблем ртутного загрязнения," was made jointly by Eco-Accord (IPEN Regional Hub for Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia), Russia and Center for Environmental Solutions (CES), Belarus.
The newsletter features updates from IPEN Participating Organizations on some of their work in the region, including from Nature University, BaliFokus, Medicuss Foundation, Consumers Association of Penang, Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand, and the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture.
Beijing – Serious environmental degradation in China has created a significant number of pollution victims, but there is no current legal framework to assist and guarantee their rights. In response, a multi-stakeholder conference in Beijing called for a new law to address this growing problem noting that China has already promulgated a series of laws for the rights and interests of certain vulnerable groups including the Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities, the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Women, the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly, and the Law on the Protection of Minors.
“The scope of the problems faced by pollution victims is huge,” said Mao Da, from Green Beagle. “But there is no corresponding law that addresses assistance and guarantees their rights. This needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.” The conference entitled “Suffering and hope – an annual review of assistance to pollution victims” examined this issue in a concluding event of the EU-funded project “Strengthening the capacity of pollution victims and civil society organizations to increase chemical safety in China” (1). Conference participants included environmentalists, lawyers, journalists, monitoring specialists and representatives of pollution victims. After reviewing case study examples of pollution victims, the conference agreed by consensus to call for the promulgation of the Law on Assistance to Pollution Victims and the Assurance of Their Rights and Interests.
Environmental NGOs, Green Beagle (GB), Nature University (NU), IPEN and Arnika released today the Action Manual for Public Participation in EIA intended to help the public participate in the EIA process on an effective and rational basis.
Companies and trade organisations frequently tell politicians that stricter environmental legislation would harm the economy significantly – but such claims have repeatedly been proven wrong. This is shown in the report Cry wolf, presented today by ChemSec.
IPEN leader Fernando Bejarano Gonzáles has contributed an article about global chemical pollution to the 83rd issue of the magazine Ecologista (December 2014) published by Ecologistas en Acción.
Read the entire article here or see a summary online.
In the Philippines, January 2015 has been declared a Zero Waste Month for the entire country! In celebration, and to continue moving the fight forward, the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), EcoWaste Coalition, Mother Earth Foundation, and Health Care Without Harm are helping to organize the first ever Philippines Zero Waste fair.
Guest Article #9 for the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), 23 December 2014
by: Olga Speranskaya, IPEN Co-Chair, and Mariann Lloyd-Smith, IPEN Senior Policy Advisor
The global toxic threat is largely underestimated by many politicians and governments, despite it being a unique issue in that often one can point directly to those responsible for the pollution, degradation of the environment and the declining of human health. In 2001, Klaus Toepfer, then the Executive Director of UNEP, warned that basic human rights to life and health are ‘threatened by exposures to toxic chemicals, hazardous wastes, and contaminated drinking water and food.'
