We sincerely appreciate the excellent job of the IPEN Team at the recently concluded BRS COPs at Geneva, Switzerland. 
Several notable decisions were adopted at the closing of two weeks of negotiations of the Joint Conference of the Parties (COP) of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) Conventions on hazardous chemical management. PFAS compound PFHxS listed for global ban with no exemptions; chemical recycling blocked over hazardous waste concerns; controls adopted on e-waste exports; and a proposal for burning PFAS in cement kilns stymied. Read more here.

Ms. Mageswari Sangaralingam, Senior Research Officer at the Consumers Association Penang - CAP, Malaysia, delivered an intervention at the BRS COPs on HS Codes - Refuse Derived Fuel. Read more here.

Punyathorn Jeungsmarn, campaigner at the Ecological Alert and Recovery -- Thailand (EARTH) contributed an opinion article on the BRS COPs in Bangkok Post Newspaper, lauding the success of Swiss-Ghana proposal, and calling on Thai delegates to support Low POPs Content Level proposal in the next round of meeting.

Yuyun Ismawati, Senior Advisor at Nexus for Health, Environment, and Development - Nexus3, Indonesia at the Basel Plastics Amendments: The First Year Report Card | BRS COPs Side Event. Check event details here.

Pham Thi Minh Hang, Vice Director at the Research Centre for Gender, Family and Environment in Development (CGFED), Vietnam. One of the activities she participated was the IPEN Unicorns walk at the halls at #BRSCOPs to educate delegates on the myths of "chemical recycling" of plastics. See why chemical recycling should not be included as ESM for plastic waste in IPEN quick views.

EcoWaste Coalition lauds the decision by the world’s governments to add PFHxS to the Stockholm Convention’s list of banned persistent organic pollutants (POPs) with no exemptions. PFHxS, or perfluorohexane sulfonic acid, its salts, and related substances, will be added to Annex A of the treaty for global elimination as agreed during the 10^th Conference of the Parties (COP10) of the Stockholm Convention in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Wonjin Institute for Occupational and Environmental Health (WIOEH) with support from Korea Financial Industry and Public Interest Foundation, and IPEN participating organizations from eight Asian countries (Bangladesh, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam) have worked together for the EDC Free Asia project in 2021-2022. The project analyzed Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in consumer goods from 9 countries, including Korea, namely, phthalates in erasers and Bisphenol-A and Bisphenol-S in thermal paper receipts. Watch the project overview video here. 

BAN Toxics conducted a press briefing and launched the alternatives study on mercury-added products titled “Mercury-Free Alternatives in the Philippines: Batteries, lamps and medical measuring devices” in time for the celebration of the National Poison Prevention Week.

Find a better solution than incineration. Mother Earth Foundation (MEF) chairperson Sonia Mendoza noted that the "reason we have a waste crisis in the Philippines is that many cities and barangays are not implementing the (environmental) laws." MEF partners with communities and cities to carry out the solid waste law in the country.

Daru Setyorini of ECOTON Indonesia shows several examples from decentralized waste management infrastructure, composting and recovering facilities, and a strong ban on chemicals in plastics during the side event of the Ocean Conference on "How the Plastic Waste Shipments Undermines Solutions to Ocean Plastic Pollution."

SHARPS Korea celebrates a win in their campaign on chronic kidney failure victims who worked at Samsung Electronics and are now recognized as an occupational disease by the government. The case of Han OO, who suffered from chronic renal failure, is now recognized as an industrial accident.

In celebration of World Environment Day and Food Safety Day, Gita Pertiwi, in partnership with PANAP and other partners in Indonesia, launched the campaign “Protect Our Children from Toxic Pesticides. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the dangers of pesticides to children.

The Advocates of Science and Technology for the People (AGHAM), in a response to a Philippine diplomat calling for cooperation to protect marine resources said, it is “high time that the people collectively seek accountability from the government’s criminal negligence on protecting the environment.” “We must solidify our unity as Filipinos in guarding our national patrimony to secure a better future for the next generation to enjoy the country’s national resources,” it also said.

The NGO Forum on Cambodia organized a consultation workshop on the Achievements and Implementation of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change. The consultation workshop aims to: 1) share about activities and work practices of the parties involved in contributing to solve the climate change problem in Cambodia; 2) reflect on major progress and achievements, as well as challenges of COP26 amongst government institutions, research institutions, private sector and civil society organisations, and 3) discuss and collect inputs (key requests and recommendations) of all relevant parties towards the 3rd United Nations Convention on Climate Change in Egypt.

Climate Change Institute (CCI), An Giang University formerly known as RCRD in Vietnam attended the signing ceremony to promote sustainable consumption of floating rice products between the local government and the Loc Troi group. CCI presented in the event ``The Benefits of Floating rice cultivation”.

EcoWaste Coalition, in partnership with Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS), Taiwan Watch Institute (TWC), Consumers Association of Penang (CAP), and IPEN SEA Hub, organized a webinar on Forever Chemicals (PFAS) and their Forever Effects on Human Health. The webinar discussed how PFAS, also known as the "forever chemicals," found in consumer and household items -- from food packaging to cosmetics -- are risk factors for the occurrence of breast cancer among Filipino women. 

Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS) partnered with EWC, WIOEH, and IPEN SEA Hub in conducting a Forum on the Hazardous Chemicals in Thermal Paper Receipts, a hybrid event conducted in Davao City and via Zoom. The organizers also participated in a press conference and jointly issued a press release. During the activities, the groups revealed the results of a pioneering study that detected Bisphenol A (BPA) and Bisphenol S (BPS) in samples of thermal receipts collected from various establishments in the Philippines and tested at the Wonjin Institute laboratory in South Korea. The Korea Financial Industry and Public Interest Foundation supported the project.

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