What is the issue?
Modern society has been plagued with ongoing devastating human and environmental health impacts of chemical and waste pollution, with associated social, developmental and economic consequences. Pollution has been recognised as one of the existential threats posed by the triple planetary crises. The sound management of chemicals and waste has been recognised as being crucial for the protection of human health and the environment. Science-based assessments have been acknowledged as important for informing decision-making processes, however, the availability of a science policy interface to provide policy-relevant, scientific advice to promote the sound management of chemicals and waste and to prevent pollution has been a gap on the international scale.
How is it being addressed?
At the Resumed Fifth Session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA5.2) that took place from February 28 to March 2, 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya, UNEA decided to: convene, subject to the availability of resources, an ad hoc Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) to prepare proposals for the Science-Policy Panel, to begin work in 2022 with the ambition of completing it by the end of 2024; and convene an Intergovernmental Meeting upon completion of proposals prepared by the OEWG for the purpose of considering the establishment of a panel.
Five (5) OEWG meetings were convened in three (3) sessions to negotiate and finalise the text for the Science Policy Panel form 2022 to 2025. The Intergovernmental Meeting to consider the establishment of the Science-Policy Panel was held immediately following the conclusion of the Resumed Third Session of the OEWG (OEWG 3.2) on June 20, 2025, in Punta del Este, Uruguay. There the Intergovernmental Meeting adopted the foundational document and agreed to establish the Intergovernmental Science Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste and Pollution (ISP-CWP). The first session of the Plenary (ISP-CWP P1) was hosted by the Government of Switzerland from February 2 to 6 February, 2026, in Geneva, Switzerland. As a registered Member State to the Intergovernmental Meeting, Trinidad and Tobago automatically became a founding member of the Panel.
For further information please visit https://www.unep.org/isp-cwp