Fifth report from the POPs convention
December 8, 2023
Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa

by Roger Bate

Background:

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is proposing a legally binding international legal instrument on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). This week in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, the fifth and final negotiations of this legal instrument take place. Of particular interest to the Save Children From Malaria campaign is that one of the 12 chemicals to be listed is DDT, which is used in malaria control. The key question for us is will DDT use be restricted, and if so, how?

Report
At about 5.45pm local time Friday the delegates provisionally approved the listing of DDT on Annex B, meaning that it is a "restricted" rather than "eliminated" chemical. The nations who had promoted this listing expected questions from the Arab States, who had opposed it, but when the negotiations came to flags of dissent none were forthcoming. In consequence a partial victory for those backing DDT use in malaria control was achieved. Any party wishing to use DDT for "disease vector control" will, in principle, be able to do so in future.

It's not all good news though. In an intervention just before the vote, the Pesticide Action Network, demanded "as much transparency as possible" in the negotiation of exemptions. As explained before, a requirement of transparency may lead to pressure being applied against countries that may want to use DDT. We hoped that the reporting requirements for those countries wishing to use DDT would have been minimal, but it's possible that reporting will now be more onerous (which is relatively significant for the poorest nations).

It is not resolved how trade in DDT will be affected under the treaty. The Convention on POPs requires that a new DDT registry be established, with reporting requirements for how much is used, for what, where and when. It is unclear who will pay for this new requirement.

There is also concern among malaria experts that the language still implies the eventual elimination of DDT. But as Richard Tren of AFM points out: "One can never tell when an older technology will be needed in the future. Even if better, cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternatives emerge, DDT use should only be minimized (maybe to zero), but it should not be banned, so that it can be used again in emergencies." Remember, South Africa said in 1997 that it would never need DDT again, yet earlier this year it returned to use because of a rising number of malaria cases.

A final exemption was sought just before the vote by Ethiopia. This brings the number of countries who will (officially) use DDT to 15. Concern remains for Mozambique and the other poor African nations who cannot afford to use alternatives for DDT, but because they might lose aid, can't afford to use it.

Of course, this is all provisional. Article K (which concerns financial support) still is widely disputed and with about 14 hours of actual negotiation time left, the whole treaty could fail. As people became more tired, old rivalries emerged. The representative from Pakistan disagreed with India, an American delegate argued backstage with one of his South American neighbors, and a Russia representative was annoyed with the Canadian Chairman, who in turn became exasperated with him and various other delegates who were delaying consensus with trivial matters of semantics.

Other news - the precautionary principle

As expected the precautionary principle does not look like it will become a sticking point for the negotiations. The parties will probably agree to disagree about the issue, and remain with article 15 of the Rio treaty, rather than something less scientific. Australia, India, and Indonesia were adamant in opposing a broader use of precautionary language. My final report will be sent by Sunday morning, by which time all issues must be resolved.

(Dr. Roger Bate is a director of the South African NGO Africa Fighting Malaria, www.fightingmalaria.org, and co-author of "When Politics Kills: Malaria and the DDT Story" published this week by the Competitive Enterprise Institute.)