15 October 2010: During its sixth meeting, which took place from 11-15 October 2010, in Geneva, Switzerland, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Review Committee (POPRC) took note of a concept note for a project on POPs and climate change (document UNEP/POPS/POPRC.6/INF/27).

The project is being carried out by an expert group convened to review existing information and data on the interlinkages between the climate and POPs from a global perspective, for submission to the fifth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 5) to the Stockholm Convention, scheduled to take place in April 2011. The POPRC agreed to review the study to assess whether the information it contains might have an impact on the scientific basis of POPRC’s work. It also agreed to invite the COP to forward the outcome of the study to the Committee for further consideration. The outcomes of the study are expected to result in policy recommendations on how to mitigate the impacts of POPs under a changing climate. According to the Stockholm Convention Secretariat, data suggest that higher temperatures can make wildlife more sensitive to exposure to certain pollutants. [POPRC 6 Website] [IISDRS Coverage of POPRC 6]