UNEP Holds
Meeting On PCBs Phase-Out Plan
Friday,
June 11, 2004
Experts meeting in Geneva over
the last two days discussed ways to get rid of polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs), one of the world's most hazardous
chemicals.
PCBs are one of 12 highly toxic chemicals targeted
for elimination by the 2001 Stockholm Convention
on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), which
entered into force last month. It has been extensively
used in electrical equipment such as transformers
and large capacitors in power lines and in additives
in paint, carbonless copy paper and plastics.
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Although the use of PCBs is now banned under the
treaty, they continue to pose a serious risk to
human health and the environment because the chemicals
have been discharged into soils, rivers and lakes
over the years and are still being held at temporary
storage sites, mostly in developing countries.
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During the meeting, U.N. Environment Program
Executive Director Klaus Toepfer said financial and technical
challenges to eliminate PCBs will require "vigorous"
public-private partnership.
"While international donors and national
governments will set priorities and invest tens of millions
of dollars, commercial firms have the expertise and technologies
to perform much of the actual clean-up work," he said.
Under the treaty, countries must phase out
"in-place equipment" containing PCBs by 2025 as
long as leaks are prevented (U.N. release, June 10).
The Global Environment Facility is providing
$250 million for the period of 2002-2006 to help developing
nations phase out PCBs.
"Many billions of dollars" will
be spent globally "to make the world PCB-free by 2028,"
said James Willis, director of the UNEP chemicals unit (Alexander
Higgins, Associated Press, June 10).
Published in UN Wire - Copyright, National Journal Group,
Year 2004
