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POLLUTION RIGHT TO KNOW TREATY - FINAL ROUND

24 Jan 2003

A new treaty aimed at improving public information on pollution is about to be finalised, at a United Nations meeting in Geneva next week (January 27-30). Delegates, including NGOs, will meet in a last attempt to resolve a number of outstanding issues on the international protocol, which is intended to give the public more information about a range of chemical pollutants from both industrial sites and dispersed sources such as traffic. Ministers from across Europe and Central Asia will meet in May this year to sign the protocol.

Controversial issues still on the table include:

• Reporting on the destination of waste transferred to sites for landfill, incineration or other treatment (including what may be international movement of waste)
  
  
• The scope of confidentiality claims that can be permitted
  
  
• Whether reports should distinguish between accidental releases and routine releases
  
  
• The extent of comparative information - NGOs would like to see figures for production levels published so that better interpretation of the releases is possible
  
  
• Threshold limits for reporting on greenhouse gases.

Mary Taylor, Friends of the Earth pollution researcher, said:
"This is the last chance to strengthen the protocol and show real commitment to the public right to know. Vested interests produce vast quantities of pollutants and waste across Europe - we should know who produces them, what they are and where they end up. Transparency on this is vital, and the timid approach of many governments, even within the EU and particularly from Germany, is deplorable."

A number of more progressive ideas have already been rejected by the delegates to the dismay of environmentalists. The nuclear industry will not appear in the list, and a much longer draft list of chemicals for reporting has been whittled down to around 80.

Notes

The protocol is being developed under the 1998 UNECE (UN Economic Commission for Europe) Aarhus Convention on access to information and public participation. The meeting follows a two-year process involving countries from Europe, Central Asia and North America, as well as representatives from environmental NGOs, including Friends of the Earth and industry representatives. The US pulled out of the negotiations last year, but Canada remains in. The protocol will be open to any country in the world to sign.

The information will be compiled into "Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers" or "PRTRs". Such registers are already used in the UK and Canada for example and are believed to help drive down pollution levels and provide both the public and authorities with useful information.

The current draft text which shows the policy options under consideration is at:
www.unece.org/env/documents/2002/pp/ac.1/mp.pp.ac.1.2002.3.e.pdf (PDF†) [English version].
This also shows the range of industries that will be included and the pollutants so far listed for reporting.

†To view PDF files you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader. Visually impaired users can get extra help with these documents from access.adobe.com.

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