Because toxic pollution is a problem without national boundaries, chemicals are an issue for international negotiation and have been so for decades. More than 50 regional and international agreements on chemicals and waste management have been adopted by governments.

Some key global treaties are:

• The Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (adopted in 1972, entered into force 1975)
• The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (adopted in 1987, entered into force 1989)
• The Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous and Other Wastes (adopted in1989, entered into force 1992)
• The Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade (adopted in 1998, entered into force 2004)
• The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants - POPs (adopted in 2001, entered into force 2004)
• The Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management - SAICM (adopted in 2006)

Two of the most recent treaties are presented in more detail here, see Stockholm Convention and SAICM pages.

Public interest organisations also have a long history of influencing the content of these agreements, striving for ambitious goals, while helping to make sure that agreements lead to a change. A perfect example is the IPEN Network.

IPEN - A global network of NGOs
NGOs in different parts of the world share the same commitment to fight toxic pollution and create a toxic free future. One unifying vehicle for many NGOs is the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN), a global network of public interest NGOs working on toxic chemicals issues. The mission of IPEN is to achieve a global elimination of persistent organic pollutants, on an expedited yet socially equitable basis.

IPEN was started by a small number of NGOs in 1998 to promote a global, legal instrument to control and eliminate persistent organic pollutants (a process that led to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in 2004). IPEN has continued to evolve and now includes more than 400 NGOs in 65 countries. It has become an important forum for NGOs and activists from around the world to participate in and influence UN negotiations.

ChemSec works closely with IPEN. IPEN has chosen Sweden as country of register, with ChemSec as collaborating partner. This means that ChemSec helps IPEN with administration, and resource coordination. Likewise, the IPEN collaboration gives ChemSec useful help to link up with NGOs outside of Europe, in particular in the Global South. ChemSec also benefit greatly from IPEN’s work in international political fora, such as the Stockholm Convention.