IPEN is participating in the 3rd meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly, taking place in Nairobi, Kenya from November 27th to December 6th, 2017, under the overarching theme of pollution. Informational documents and information about IPEN's activities during the meeting will be posted on this page.
See IPEN's Views of Selected Issues to be discussed at UNEA3 for information about IPEN's positions on specific resolutions.
For years, IPEN has worked on several issues of pollution that will be relevant to the Assembly. For informational materials to supplement issues covered at the meeting, visit IPEN's UNEA3 Information Materials page.
The IPEN MENA Regional Meeting convened from October 31st to November 2nd, 2017 in Hammamet, Tunisia
The IPEN Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Regional Meeting was hosted and organized by Association d'Education Environnementale pour la Future Génération (AEEFG), the IPEN Hub for the MENA region. Topics covered at the meeting focused on the Stockholm and Minamata Conventions, the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM), lead in paint, women and chemicals, building capacities, and the GEF Small Grants Program. Participating Organizations (POs) in attendance were also updated on the outcomes of the Minamata Convention’s 1st Conference of the Parties (COP1) and the Stockholm Convention’s 8th Conference of the Parties (COP8).
MANILA, Philippines — Justin Trudeau's visit to the Philippines brought him within a short walk of a Canadian controversy that has lingered in the Port of Manila for years: about 100 stranded containers crammed with thousands of tons of rotting trash from Canada.
Wang Enlin, an elderly farmer who left school when he was 10 years old and taught himself law armed with a single textbook and dictionary, makes for an unlikely eco-warrior.
On 6 December in Nairobi, IPEN released a new report showing high mercury levels among Minamata COP1 delegates. Researchers from IPEN (a global public health and environment network) and BRI (the Biodiversity Research Institute) analyzed mercury levels in hair samples from 180 delegates (104 women and 76 men) from 75 countries who participated the COP1 of the Minamata Convention in Geneva from September 24-29th, 2017.
How to deal with toxic pollution: That was the main theme of the IPEN Central and Eastern Europe Regional Meeting that took place in Prague in October, 2017. The three-day conference of regional non-governmental organizations discussed a common future approach for Central and Eastern Europe. The meeting included an excursion to Spolana – a chlorine factory which is the biggest contemporary polluter of the Czech Republic. This trip showed how difficult, though not impossible, it may be to resolve historical environmental burdens.
Right in the historical centre of the Czech capital, environmental activists shared their experience regarding crucial issues of soil, water and air contamination from toxic waste. The conference brought together almost 30 participants representing fifteen European countries. The main goal of the meeting was to enhance the cooperation of environmental NGOs in the region, based on IPEN’s 2020 Global Plan and strategy. Maria Ekström Johansson, IPEN’s Operations and Finance Director, presented this strategy on the first day.