What is IP4.2 and SAICM, IOMC & ICCM? I am Attending the UNEP’s IP4.2 & Here is the Easy-To-Grasp Description of what it’s all about!
IP4.2 and SAICM, IOMC, ICCM, or even UNEP are now the most ‘threatening’ abbreviations to those NEW to or interested in environmental health and climate change, specifically the sound management of global chemicals and wastes. But what are they? How did they come about? And how do they all mix up for what is happening today, the IP4.2 meeting?
Just like you, I am literary new to UNEP’s chemicals and wastes revolution, even though I am actually more than 5 years old in sustainable development and climate change (at Miklah Life) and have professional and technical background in management of wastes and chemicals for health as a nurse and public health professional (see my CV here). The goal of writing about this is to capture the moments in the most easy, fun, and inspiring way, especially for fellow youth and sustainable entrepreneurs who couldn’t make it here, Nairobi, Kenya, for the in-person meetings
Briefly, IP4.2 is the technical term for the UNEP’s meeting (or SAICM’s meeting) on SAICM (Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management) that is happening in Nairobi, Kenya, between 25th February to 3rd March 2023.
I, Vicent (or nemvicx as you like) and Miklah Life, have been graced with the opportunity of in-person participation at the UNEP Head Quarters in Nairobi, and I would like not to leave you behind, whether you made it here or not! As I did with COP27 and COY17 series, I am ready to share all the highlights with you, whether you made it here or not so that you understand these issues easily and be inspired more and more for the big work ahead.
In this first article in this IP4.2 and SAICM series, I will introduce you to the history of the efforts to avail ‘sound’ strategy to management of chemicals and wastes, explain the terminologies or abbreviations around here, and break the whole thing down into simple and easy-to-grasp concept for your own good. Let’s get started!
IP4.2 and SAICM: Where did all begin from?
IP4.2 simply stands for the ‘Fourth meeting of the intersessional process considering the Strategic Approach and sound management of chemicals and waste beyond 2020’. On the other hand, SAICM stands for Strategic Approach to International Chemical Management. In other words, IP4.2 is a meeting about SAICM beyond 2020, lol!
From these definitions, it is already clear there there were three other IPs, right? Besides, why is it IP4.2 and not just IP4? It means that it isn’t just the fourth IP, but also the second part of it! Lol! But what are they all about?
UNEP and Global Management of Chemicals and Wastes
Since its formation in 1972 (against the wishes of ‘The Brussels‘ who didn’t want such an environment focused UN arm to ever see the day) and of course its hosting in Nairobi, Kenya (another battle against those – specifically India, who never envisioned a UN agency Head Quarters in Global South or ‘third’ world countries in Africa), UNEP’s focus has always been environmental health. Apparently, chemicals and wastes and the pollution or intoxication or toxication they cause have destroyed millions of human life, biodiversity, and jeorpadised businesses for centuries. Watch the video below to grasp what I am saying in a flush!
Well, as dangerous as they get, chemicals and wastes couldn’t escape the eye of UNEP, the only United Nations’ official agency on Environment.
The specific efforts to address chemicals and waste go back to as early as 1990s, specifically 1992 when UNEP established Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safefy (IFCS). By 1995, many other agencies under Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals (IOMC), including WHO, ILO, FAO, UNDP, World Bank, and others had joined UNEP on this grand mission of fighting against pollution and toxicity due to chemicals and wastes. In the following years, these stakeholders worked with UNEP towards developing sound strategy of managing chemicals.
In 2001, during one of the usual governing council (GC) meetings, specifically, during the 21st session of UNEP’s Governing Council, chemical management was one of the 30 decisions that GC delegates decided on (5th-9th Feb. 2001, Nairobi, Kenya). Well, in 2002, during one of the UNEP’s special sessions, specifically, the 7th special session, UNEP leaders reviewed the outcomes of the previous 2001 21st session of GC, adopted five decisions of which, in relation to chemical management, one of the decisions was to create or adopt ‘a strategic approach to chemicals management at the global level’ (or SAICM) (13th-15th Feb. 2002, Colombia). Are we clear?
Don’t be confused with the names of these sessions: GC sessions are the major sessions of UNEP Governing Council or leadership that happen every after 2 years. However, in between these major sessions, these leaders can host small preparatory or emergency meetings, and these are called ‘special sessions’. That is why a 7th special session of GC is surely happening in 2002 after a 21st session of GC in 2001. Lol. Is it clear?
The point is this: UNEP adopted a decision to create a ‘strategic approach to chemicals management at the global level (SAICM) in 2002’. Following this adoption, members (or founding stakeholders, including IOMC, IFCS, and of course UNEP) put up a committee, and charged it with the task of coordinating more negotiations, intergovernmental discussions, and civil society involvement in this formation of ‘Strategic Approach to Chemicals management’.
For example, this committee within the framework of IOMC (Inter-Organization Programme on Sound Management of Chemicals) organized first (2003) and second (2004) preparatory sessions for the development of SAICM. It’s these preparatory committee meetings that culminated in the first International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM1), which was (or is) the high-level political declaration of the outcomes of the process for establishment of SAICM. This happened in Dubai, UAE, on 4th-6th Feb. 2006.
Another thing to note is that, in addition to reviewing the outcomes of 2001 session of GC, one other purpose of the UNEP’s 7th special session of GC of 2002 was to prepare UNEP for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), a global summit on sustainable devlopement that was happening in September 2002.
Well, during this September 2002 WSSD (South Africa), the adoption to create a ‘Strategic Approach to Global Management of Chemicals’ was endorsed. It was re-endorsed and supported during a 2005 high-level meeting with UN General Assembly, leading to the formal and final creation or endorsement of SAICM (Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management) during the 2006 ICCM1. Note that UNEP’s GC reports to UN General Assembly.
The point here is this: The idea of SAICM started in 2001 and formally came to light in 2006! What! Can you imagine how long it takes for these guys to make any decision? As long as a decision needs consensus of many other sovereign states, it usually takes time before it materializes. These guys can discuss a policy, and take more than a year before they even agree on the name of the policy! Lol! Anyway, let us ask then; What is SAICM?
What is SAICM?
SAICM is a special Secretariat or policy framework within which UNEP enforces all policies and strategies for global management of chemicals and wastes. Just as UNFCCC is UN’s framework on climate change, SAICM is UN’s (or UNEP’s) framework on chemicals and wastes. As such, SAICM has its own Secretariat and leadership but under UNEPI and other founding agencies or stakeholders, the IOMC (Inter-Organizational Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals).
SAICM was formally and finally endorsed in 2006, during the first International Conference on Chemical Management (ICCM1) organized by UNEPI (or IFCS) and IOMC.
NB: Get reminded that ICCM is simply the highest-level political declaration event when or where decisions or issues fully exhausted during various other Intersessional Processes (IPs) or in-between events and sessions or meetings of SAICM are declared or finally endorsed (or not endorsed). It is officially stated as a ‘high-level international forum for multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral discussion and exchange of experience on chemicals management issues’.
If I am not mistaken, ICCM is to SAICM what COP is to climate or biodiversity or desertification UN Frameworks! Also, note that following the final formation of SAICM in 2006, IFCS got lost into oblivion, around 2008!
Back to SAICM, the major ROLE of SAICM is organizing international meetings and discussions on policy and guidelines for chemicals management, intersessional processes, and all sorts of capacity building, and coordination and communication of all these efforts to stakeholders and the world.
In fact, SAICM has a special knowledge platform for the purpose of disseminating all chemical related policies, strategies, news, research, and science. For example, see SAICM at work of simplifying everything for us in the following short video:
IP4.2 and SAICM: Summary so far!
Chemicals and wastes are a serious issue to global health of people, biodiversity, and business through the pollution and toxicity they cause to environment. Because of this, they were noticed and put on UNEP’s radar as early as in 1990s or even before that! However, efforts to have a unified agreed-upon sound global approach to management of these chemicals has staggered for years, from 1992 to 2006 when SAICM finally came into full existence.
Unfortunately, even after the final endorsement of SAICM in 2006, there has been some serious setbacks, one of the reasons we are having IP4.2 meeting in just 2023! Let’s get into this!
IP4.2 and SAICM: How about ICCM, IP4.2, & SAICM Beyond 2020?
Apparently, SAICM’s mandate was to end in 2020 (downlaod the full 2020 Goal Document as Declared During the WSSD summit in 2002, South Africa, here). In other words, the ambitious dream was to have found an effective strategy to manage chemicals and wastes by 2020. Well, from 2006, these were 14 years in action. To achieve this grand mission, SAICM did a lot of work in line with her mandate. Reports and reviews of the progress on this work or implementation of SAICM would happen during ICCM sessions.
As we earlier noted, the first ICCM happened in 2006 and ended up in formal and final endorsement of SAICM. The second ICCM (ICCM2) happened on 11th to 15th May 2009 in Switzerland. It reviewed the progress of SAICM since its official adoption in 2006 and forged better way forward. The third ICCM (ICCM3) happened on 17th to 21st Sep. 2012 in Nairobi, Kenya. It reviwed progress since ICCM2 and forged a way into the future. The fourth ICCM (ICCM4) happened on 28th Sep. to 2nd October 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland. ICCM4 was special, for it reviwed the past progress, had to seal off implementation gaps and hit 2020 target, and was tasked to also consider ‘SAICM beyond 2020’.
Intersessional Process (IP4.2) & SAICM beyond 2020!
Importantly and notably, during ICCM4, delegates decided and adopted what they called ‘Intersessional Process’ (IP), which, according to the official SAICM website is or was to ‘prepare recommendations regarding the Strategic Approach and the sound management of chemicals and waste beyond 2020’. Reviews of SAICM progress had noticed that, despite the SAICM progress, many gaps still existed. ICCM4 recommded ‘SAICM beyond 2020’, and IPs would prepare us (or prepare ICCM5) for that! The unique feature of IPs would be openness and multi-sectoral, involving everyone!
In other words, IPs were specially introduced during ICCM4 to help prepare the future of SAICM (also called SAICM Beyond 2020), and their (IPs) recommendations would be declared or finally decided upon during the ICCM5 (2020). They were supposed to be four in total before ICCM5 in 2020 or early 2021.
The first meeting of IP on SAICM beyond 2020 happened on 7th to 9th July 2017 in Brazil. The second meeting of IP on SAICM beyond 2020 happened on 13th to 15th March 2018 in Stockholm, Sweden. The third meeting of IP on SAICM beyond 2020 happened on 1st to 4th October 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand. Wait! Note that beyond September 2019, COVID-19 pandemic happened. And all global meetings came to standstill. In fact, IP3 just ambushed the situation before global restrictions became severe.
According to the ICCM schedules (2006, 2009, 2012, 2015, and 2020), the fifth ICCM was supposed to happen in 2020, right? Well, it didn’t happen due to COVID-19 related restrictions and, of course, recovery hiccups! It was later shifted to July 2021. And still it failed to happen! Instead, according to the official communication from SAICM, ICCM5 will happen between 25th and 29th September 2023 in Bonn, Germany. But then, we still have to hold the ‘required but missed or postponed‘ fourth meeting of IP on SAICM beyond 2020 or IP4 session (Intersessional Process 4), isn’t it? Welcome to IP4.2. But why IP4.2 and not just IP4?
Apparently, during IP4 meeting, which happened on 29th August to 2nd September 2022 in Bucharest, Romania, delegates adjourned the proceedings on 2nd Sep. 2022 and agreed to resume the meeting later in early 2023, making the adjourned meeting the IP4.1 and the planned one, the IP4.2.
Why was IP4.1 adjourned? Well, I wasn’t there! Lol. But let me look into this for you! According to UNEP’s press release, the meeting was adjourned because more consultations were needed before delegates could finalize everything on the grand document that will inform ICCM5 of the future of SAICM.
Personally, I am lucky that I am now part of the resummed session of IP4.2 and my thoughts and concerns and those of the many youth and children that I represent will probably find their way into the grand document that will be submitted for ICCM5. In other words, the adjournment worked in my favor! Hallelujah!
Back to rescheduling IP4 meeting, the date and meeting place were later decided to be on 27th (or 25th) Feb. to 3rd March 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya. In fact this meeting is called ‘RESUMED‘ fourth meeting of intersessional process on SAICM beyond 2020. This is the meeting that is happening today as I write this.
The goal of this resumed IP4.2 meeting is to explore, discuss, negotiate, agree, and disagree on important areas or gaps for future management of chemicals and consolidate agreed-upon decisions or recommendations in the one IP4 consolidated document, which then will be forwarded to ICCM Secretariat or Presidency and delegates for consideration in September 2023, Germany. The outcomes of ICCM5 will be ‘SAICM beyond 2020’ framework, which up to today we don’t know the title it shall bear!
DETAILS OF THE ONGOING IP4.2 meeting can be lively and timely followed here
IP4.2 and SAICM: The over-all summary.
SAICM is UNEP’s offical policy framework within which all efforts to manage chemicals and wastes globally are worked out and coordinated. While this vision was meant to be realized by 2020, evidence shows that there is more to do, which gave birth to the idea of SAICM beyond 2020. Well, to produce a global framework that will guide global efforts in management of wastes beyond 2020, SAICM has been undergoing preparatory sessions (also called IPs), which explore everything regarding the envisioned framework. The last IP is IP4.2, which is happening in 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya. Outcomes of IP4.2 meeting will be consolidated (in consideration of other previous work) in one document, and this will be forwarded to ICCM5, the highest political and multi-sectoral level declaration that is set to happen in September 2023 in Germany. That is what it’s all about!
In my next articles, I will briefly keep you informed and updated regarding everyday happenings until the end. I will be giving you better, easy, and fun peep into whatever session (s) I will attend. Yesterday (25th Feb. 2023), I and fellow youth attended ‘the first technical briefing’. Today (26th Feb. 2023), we have a youth IP4.2 preparatory meeting, and I will get back to these, including photos, and make it lively and inspirational for you, even when you didn’t manage to make it here for in-person attendance.