Governments have established the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste and Pollution (ISP-CWP). After a week of often difficult negotiations, the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) on a Science-Policy Panel “reached sufficient consensus to transmit three draft decisions to the Intergovernmental Meeting, where they were officially adopted.”

The Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) summary report of the meeting notes that together with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the ISP-CWP “completes a ‘trifecta’ of international science-policy bodies to respond to the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.”

In addition to establishing the Panel, the Intergovernmental Meeting:

• recommended draft rules of procedure for possible adoption at the Panel’s first meeting;
• transmitted draft procedures for determining the work programme, the preparation and clearance of panel deliverables, and a draft conflict of interest policy for further consideration at the Panel’s first session; and
• decided on arrangements for the interim period, including financial arrangements.

According to ENB, discussions were contentious regarding decision-making modalities, the scope of the Panel, references to preventing pollution, non-governmental participation in the Panel’s work, and the host to the Panel’s Secretariat. The inclusion of references to gender throughout the document and the distinction between Indigenous Peoples and local communities were also among hotly debated issues. “Divisions linger,” ENB notes, “with bracketed text remaining on core aspects of the new Panel, including its scope, objectives and functions, and operating principles and approaches.”

The ENB analysis of the meeting expresses hope that the new Panel “will amplify the role of science to inform policymaking.” “The ISP-CWP is expected to identify issues and key gaps in scientific research, explain and disseminate findings for broad audiences, strengthen capacity building, and conduct assessments of current issues and identify potential evidence-based options to address those concerns, particularly for developing countries,” ENB writes.

ENB highlights the question of partnerships as one of particular relevance to the Panel’s future work. Unlike the IPCC, which has a clear link to the UNFCCC, or IPBES, which serves a cluster of biodiversity-related multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), the ISP-CWP “will exist in a fragmented and diverse governance context for chemicals, waste and pollution,” it points out, that includes the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Framework on Chemicals.

The resumed third session of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on a Science-Policy Panel to contribute further to the sound management of chemicals and waste and to prevent pollution as well as the Intergovernmental Meeting convened in Punta del Este, Uruguay, from 15-20 June 2025. [ENB Coverage of Resumed Third Meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on a Science-Policy Panel to Contribute Further to the Sound Management of Chemicals and Waste and to Prevent Pollution and Intergovernmental Meeting]