From the POPs INC1, Treaty Negotiations, Montreal, Canada for the first round of negotiations of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-1), 1998

Representatives from 92 countries and over 100 public interest and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) met in Montreal June 28 - July 3, 1998 for the first round of talks on reducing and eliminating world wide use and emissions of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) - which are products and by-products of various industrial processes such as pesticides, manufacturing and incineration. POPs such as DDT and dioxins remain in the environment for years. The meeting focused on a list of 12 persistent chemicals, including nine pesticides. This list includes aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachor, hexachlorobenzene, and toxaphene. The remaining chemicals on the list are dioxins, furans, mirex, and PCBs. The United Nations Environmental Programme Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-1) had their first meeting for an International Legally Binding Instrument for Implementing International Action on Certain Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). The INC1 started with opening remarks, election of the Bureau, and discussion of the INC1 international body and presentations by countries and their positions on POPs.

A growing body of scientific evidence indicates that exposure to very low doses of certain POPs can lead to cancer, birth defects, damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems, diseases of the immune system, reproductive disorders, genetic abnormalities and interference with normal infant and child development in people and animals. POPs can travel through the air and water thousands of miles from their source. Ninety-six percent of human dioxin exposure is through diet. Meat, fish, and milk are the primary carriers of these chemicals. POPs, including PCBs, pesticide DDT and dioxins - bioaccumulate in people whose diets include large amounts of wild game and especially big fish, marine mammals and other aquatic resources.

It has been found that POPs migrate from warmer climates of the south to colder climates of Great Lakes, Canada, Alaska, and other broader Arctic regions. Because many POPs vaporize at warmer temperatures and condense as the air gets cooler, POPs systematically migrate to cooler latitudes. POPs accumulation in the Arctic region is particularly significant because little or no POPs are produced or used there. At this distant location, POPs concentrate in animals and humans at potentially dangerous levels. Indigenous Peoples are disproportionately impacted in these cooler climates where their diet depends on subsistence.

A newly formed coalition called the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN), which is a coalition of more than 75 public interest groups and NGOs from around the world also attended the INC1 negotiations. IEN is a member of IPEN. IPEN groups called POPs "a global biological time-bomb as serious as nuclear weapons." IPEN called for strong recognition that North-South cooperation would be essential for a meaningful treaty. "The existing burden of these chemicals from industries in developed countries, together with the burden from rapidly growing industries in southern countries, will in large part determine the chemical fate of the earth," said Eugene Caimcross of the Environmental Justice Networking Forum in South Africa.

Without any doubt, the efforts of IPEN and its participating organizations made good and strong impressions and impacted the tone and rhetoric on INC1. As most of you already know, the new Executive Director of the United Nations Environmental Programme, Dr. Klaus Topfer, attended and spoke at the IPEN Forum on the Sunday before negotiations started in Montreal. Then on Monday morning, he presented himself for a photo opportunity in front of the NGO silent vigil (pregnant bellies for a Toxics Free Future. This silent vigil reminded world delegates that these negotiations have one primary objective to protect the developing fetus and the young infant (and their correlates in other species) from poisons that threaten the integrity of this world's future generations.

This message was reflected beginning on Monday morning with opening remarks from Dr. Topfer to the delegates. The draft report of the INC1 says Topfer's opening remarks stressed: "Toxic, persistent, easily transported over long distances, and found throughout every region of the world, POPs represented a truly global threat. Given that information, he called on Governments to act decisively, stating that the ultimate goal must be the elimination of POPs releases, not simply their better management. A global POPs convention had to promote a shift away from the production and use of POPs and the processes that generated them."

RESPONSE TO IPEN/NGO INTERVENTIONS:

The Inuit Circumpolar Conference (IC) - representing Inuit peoples of Canada, U.S., Russia and Greenland - emerged as a strong voice at the INC. ICC Canadian Vice President, Sheila Watt-Cloutier received applause after her intervention - which is unusual. The Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) was also present and interviewed as an NGO. IEN began networking with a few of the other Indigenous Peoples that were present. IEN is looking to increase Indigenous Peoples participation in future INC meetings.

Even though most of the IPEN organizing has so far taken place in North America, many delegates and others commented on the size and spectrum of the non-North American NGO delegation that stayed for some or all of the INC meeting. Some of the countries represented included: Mexico, Brazil, Peru, South Africa, Tunisia, India, Pakistan, Philippines, Malaysia and Russia.

There was very good cooperation among all participating IPEN organizations and strong feelings that future collaboration can be helpful and constructive. IEN is working towards raising funds to hire Indigenous organizations that will educate and encourage Indigenous representation in all future INC meetings.

In a few countries (Brazil, Philippines, Russia) there were successful efforts to use the POPs INC in Montreal to help focus attention on POPs issues at home. In future INCs this model can be expanded to other countries. It can also be useful in focusing media attention to both the global process and to local POPs issues in various regional media markets across North America.

The next INC2 meeting has been scheduled for January 25-29, 1999 in Nairobi, Kenya. At this INC2 meeting, it will take up a number of substantive issues identified at INC1, including technical information needs, criteria for identifying additional POPs for international action, and issues related to implementation of an agreement, including technical and financial assistance for developing countries and economies in transition. IEN and IPEN are making plans for NGO activities at INC2, which might include an NGO skillshares, press briefings, and briefings for negotiators. IEN will be attempting to organize an Indigenous Peoples caucus before the start of INC2 in Nairobi.

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