Supporting Multilateral Environmental Agreements on Chemicals and Waste with Scientific Evidence [ICP 2020]

Project summary

The Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) play a fundamental role in achieving sound management of chemicals and waste at the global level. To support informed policymaking and effective implementation of the MEAs, different scientific evidence is needed. This project will analyse and translate these policy needs into a scientific research agenda accessible through an online tracker.

The MEAs including the Basel, Rotterdam, Stockholm (BRS), and Minamata Conventions have grown increasingly complex over time. Policy needs for specific scientific information are often scattered over new provisions and decisions. While clearing-house mechanisms have been developed under the MEAs, it is often still challenging for scientists to capture, keep up with and understand specific policy needs under the MEAs. This is because the clearing-house mechanisms have different focuses and target audience. An additional step is often needed to digest and translate policy needs under the MEAs into specific scientific questions. Consequently, despite vast interest, scientists increasingly cannot generate the required scientific evidence in a timely manner if at all.

This project aims to foster engagement of the scientific community to support informed policymaking and effective implementation of the MEAs. 

To do so, it will build a user-friendly online trackers to monitor and present policy needs to the scientific community (stage 1) and make scientific information available to policymakers (stage 2).

The project envisions two main impacts:

  1. The scientific community will be able to plan research and produce relevant evidence in a timely and coordinated manner in support of the MEAs.
  2. MEAs-related policy and implementation actors will be able to base increasingly their decisions on sound evidence and design more effective policies.

The project holders intend to cover the following activities:

  1. Detailed review of the provisions and decisions under the BRS Conventions – with the participation of key stakeholders and leading scientists in the relevant fields. 
  2. Identification of needs for scientific information, and translation into specific scientific questions.
  3. Creation of a user-friendly online tracker to make these results available, using an iterative multi-stakeholder approach.
  4. Launch and promotion of the platform to the wider scientific community.
  5. If this pilot is successful, more MEAs will be covered by the tracker in future phases.
Duration
15 July 2020 - 31 July 2021
Project collaborators
Contact
  • Dr Zhanyun Wang, Chair of Ecological Systems Design, ETHZ: zhanyun.wang @ifu.baug.ethz.ch
  • Dr Frédérique Guérin, Executive Officer, GSPI: frederique.guerin @unige.ch