Persistent Organic Pollutants

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are among the most dangerous chemicals that humans release into the environment. They are pesticides, industrial chemicals, or unwanted by-products of industrial processes.

Once the world learned about POPs deadly qualities, many countries began limiting or banning their production, use, and release. These efforts culminated in the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. More than 180 countries are party to the convention and have agreed to eliminate or reduce the release of POPs into the environment.

POPs are highly toxic, and can cause severe health problems, even at low doses. These impacts include cancer, damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems, reproductive disorders, and disruption of the immune system. These synthetic chemicals can enter the womb, exposing the unborn to risk during the most vulnerable stages of development.

POPs can travel great distances through the air, water and migratory animals. They have been found at both poles and accumulate in marine mammals.

POPs are long-lasting. They accumulate in air, water, and sediments, and are difficult to remove from the environment. For this reason, POPs can affect people in a community over several generations.

The GEF is the financial mechanism for implementing the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. The GEF is charged with eliminating the most harmful chemicals, which are covered by the convention, as well as the Minamata Convention on Mercury and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

The GEF has sought to support the development of enabling environments, economic models, and financial mechanisms to strengthen the global response to improving the sound management of chemicals and waste.

There are ongoing global efforts to shift to sustainable patterns of production and consumption in industrial processes, including the application of approaches that will promote a circular economy, a sound material-cycle society, and sustainable materials management.

Additionally, through our POPs programming, the GEF indirectly supports both two legally binding instruments to confront the challenge of chemicals and waste:

• The Basel Convention on Controlling Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal. This convention, which predates the Stockholm Convention, deals with the international movement of hazardous waste and its disposal. Since POPs waste are treated as Basel Convention wastes, the GEF’s support to the Stockholm Convention has indirectly supported implementation of the Basel Convention.
• The Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade. This convention deals with the control in trade of hazardous and harmful chemicals. Since the convention controls all POPs for the purpose of trade, the GEF’s support to help Parties use import and export bans has indirectly supported implementation of the Rotterdam Convention.

The GEF has approved a groundbreaking global program dedicated to the elimination of a class of harmful chemicals called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) primarily found in electrical transformers around the world. This ambitious initiative combines $43.8 million in GEF grant funding with $163 million in partner co-financing and represents a major milestone towards meeting the Stockholm Convention’s 2025 and 2028 PCB elimination goals and facilitating the energy transition to reduce the effects of climate change.