Developing SAICM into a framework for the international governance of chemicals throughout their lifecycle: Looking beyond 2020

Chemicals play a vital role in global human development. Pharmaceuticals save lives from otherwise fatal diseases. Agrochemicals protect food crops from pests. Thousands of industrial chemicals provide the basis for consumer products. The global chemical industry is one of the largest business sectors in the world economy. In 2016, the roughly 100 000 chemicals produced, processed, and finally sold generated a turnover of USD 5.2 trillion (Statista 2018). Worldwide chemical production is projected to double between 2010 and 2030, and more than 70% of this increase will take place outside developed countries, in particular in countries with economies in transition such as Brazil, India, and China (OECD 2012). However, chemical production and use are not only a success story. Chemical pollution adversely impacts human health and the environment on a global scale (UN Environment 2013, 2017). Environmental pollution ignores national borders and can therefore be addressed effectively first and foremost through international cooperation. Approximately 200 multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) address pollution issues on global, continental, and regional scales. Important global MEAs that deal with chemical pollution include the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, and the Minamata Convention on Mercury. In view of global chemical trade with raw materials, finalized consumer products, and waste that contains vast amounts of hazardous chemicals, the need for a complementary international framework for chemical governance becomes painfully obvious. So far, MEAs focus only on a miniscule subset of the roughly 100 000 chemicals currently used in commerce. A comprehensive international governance framework for production, use, and disposal of commercially relevant chemicals is therefore urgently needed. The Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM), which is hosted by United Nations Environment, could be developed into such a framework, but much still needs to be done. SAICM entered into force in 2006. It is a voluntary international policy framework in which currently more than 175 governments and 90 nongovernmental organizations from public and private sectors participate (the “SAICM Stakeholders”). Since then, SAICM has identified 8 global chemical management issues and adopted them as so-called “Emerging Policy Issues” or “Issues of Concern” (http://www.saicm.org/Implementation/EmergingPolicyIssues). To date, work on these issues has focused on the collection and dissemination of information between involved countries and stakeholders. We consider this an important and necessary first step. However, in order to achieve “the sound management of chemicals throughout their life cycle so that by the year 2020, chemicals are produced and used in ways that minimize significant adverse impacts on the environment and human health” (SAICM 2006), SAICM now needs to start actually using the gathered information for improving international chemical management. SAICM's current mandate expires in 2020. Its latest decision-making meeting, the Fourth International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM4), was convened in 2015. Since then progress has been limited. No new work plans for previously identified issues of concern (e.g., endocrine disrupters, environmentally persistent pharmaceutical pollutants) have been developed, and no new issues of concern have been identified, despite substantial scientific concerns raised, for example, about the lack of consistent mixture toxicity assessments or about plastic pollution. Instead, the SAICM Stakeholders have invested their efforts almost exclusively in negotiating a post-2020 framework, to be finalized and adopted in 2020. Unfortunately, its vision, goals, and objectives remain elusive, even after almost 3 years of international discussion. As scientists we urge the SAICM Stakeholders to more aggressively pursue a robust post-2020 framework with a longer shelf life than a mere 14 years, similar to other framework conventions such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Future negotiations could then develop, operationalize, and negotiate targets and quantitative milestones without the need to constantly reinvent the underlying fundamental framework. The European Union, the United States, and other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries have various specific and legally binding frameworks for chemical management in place, for example, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in the United States or the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) in the European Union. However, their jurisdiction is restricted to individual countries or the EU, respectively. In view of global chemical trade with raw materials, finalized consumer products, and waste that contains vast amounts of hazardous chemicals, the need for a complementary international framework for chemical governance becomes painfully obvious. We envision a post-2020 international framework that complements national chemical regulations and aims to 1) systematically identify transboundary and global chemical management issues; 2) set appropriate goals, targets, and indicators; 3) monitor and evaluate progress; and 4) aid developing and transition countries in the implementation of national chemical management frameworks and regulations. SAICM works with stakeholders that operate within and across political and socioeconomic systems that can be poles apart, and it emphasizes international cooperative action. This is one of SAICM's particular strengths on which a post-2020 framework can be developed. At the same time, work within the post-2020 framework must be based on solid scientific evidence and must be able to handle increasingly complex environmental, scientific, and socioeconomic information. To become truly operational, the post-2020 framework therefore requires a dedicated science–policy interface that facilitates the systematic bidirectional knowledge exchange and dialogue between the scientific community, policy makers, and various other stakeholders. If successful, such a continuous and organized international dialogue would support the development of joint strategies on specific chemical management issues, information dissemination, knowledge management, and capacity building. A dedicated science-policy interface interface could support stakeholder requests for specific scientific assessments of current and emerging issues of concern. Policy makers could use it to engage the academic community on policy developments, which would contribute to an improved understanding of policy needs and could stimulate the generation of scientific knowledge that supports policy development. In turn, the academic community would be empowered to communicate research findings in a more systematic way to stakeholders and decision makers. In the end, a dedicated science–policy interface would create a strong foundation for a more holistic, science-based, post 2020 framework for international chemical governance. Thomas Backhaus Senior Editor, Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management University of Gothenburg, Sweden Martin Scheringer RECETOX, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic ETH Zurich, Switzerland Zhanyun Wang ETH Zurich, Switzerland

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