20 October 2015
UNEP’s ‘Our Planet’ Focuses on Chemical Safety
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The September 2015 edition of the UN Environment Programme's (UNEP) magazine, 'Our Planet,' focuses on the theme 'Making Our Future Chemical Safe.' It explores mercury waste, lead in paint, chemicals in products, the role of chemicals and waste in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the role of workers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in chemicals management, among other issues.

UNEPSeptember 2015: The September 2015 edition of the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) magazine, ‘Our Planet,’ focuses on the theme ‘Making Our Future Chemical Safe.’ It explores mercury waste, lead in paint, chemicals in products, the role of chemicals and waste in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the role of workers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in chemicals management, among other issues.

In an editorial, UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner reflects on sound chemicals management and the role of UNEP and the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM).

Guest articles in the issue include those by Sharan Burrow, General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), discussing how trade unions can help eliminate chemical pollution and associated workplace risks, Li Yong, Director-General, UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), looking at the role of SMEs in sound chemicals management, Vance Bell, Chairman and CEO, Shaw Industries, making the business case for producing chemically-safe, environmentally-sustainable products, Rolph Payet, Executive Secretary, Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) Conventions, discussing the sound management of chemicals and waste in the context of SDGs implementation, and Yixiu Wu, Greenpeace East Asia, discussing the ‘Detox My Fashion’ campaign.

The issue also includes articles spotlighting UNEP’s Chemical in Products (CiP) Programme developed at the request of SAICM’s Third International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM3), developments in green chemistry, a new UNEP project on endocrine-disrupting chemicals, the work of the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint (GAELP), and pilot projects in Argentina and the Philippines to help hospitals identify risks from toxic chemicals that were funded by SAICM’s Quick Start Programme. [Publication: Our Planet, September 2015]

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