ENB: POPSD, Stockholm, 2001


Kjell Larsson	Kjell Larsson, Swedish Minister of the Environment, spoke on behalf of the EU, Central and Eastern European countries, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Malta and Turkey. He called on countries to act forcefully to counteract past negligence, and said future use of chemicals must be guided by precaution, prevention and substitution. He urged for efforts to eliminate malaria and the reliance on DDT for vector control, and emphasized the full involvement and support of industry, the scientific community and NGOs Listen to the RealAudio
Khieu Muth	Khieu Muth, Director General, Ministry of Environment, Cambodia, stated that Cambodia is committed to environmental protection and recognizes the importance of natural resources to its economy and culture. He welcomed steps taken by the GEF to provide developing countries and CEITs with financial assistance to enable them to fulfill their commitments Listen to the RealAudio
Nguyen Van Nam, Vietnam's Ambassador to Sweden, emphasized that his country has suffered greatly from the health and environmental effects of dioxins, and said that the Convention is an important instrument in the development of an appropriate strategy to create a healthier environment for future generations Listen to the RealAudio
Elim Dutra, Ambassador, Brazilian Embassy in Stockholm, said the Convention is well-balanced, realistic and satisfies all parts, regulation system, strong and flexible, He said that certain POPs are still needed for agriculture, industry and health. He said action plans must reflect nationally defined priorities, and said it is establishing internal conditions by adopting measures to ensure full implementation in the short term. He said provisions on technical and financial assistance must be implemented	Elim Dutra
Farida Aiduaze	Farida Aiduaze, Ambassador, Embassy of Algeria, Sweden
David Anderson	David Anderson, Minister of the Environment, Canada, lauded the shared recognition of the threat of POPs, the shared commitment to take action, and the shared conviction that technical and financial assistance is needed. Describing the threat to wildlife, the environment and human health in the Canadian Arctic ecosystem, he called for entry into force of the Stockholm Convention by the September 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg Listen to the RealAudio
Milos Kuzvart, Minister of the Environment, said the Czech Republic is responsible for the European coordination of the UNEP project financially supported by the GEF aiming to produce an inventory of persistent organic substances, including both POPs and potential POPs candidates, and plans to join the UNIDO project aimed at facilitating the development of national implementation plans	Milos Kuzvart
Zhu Guangyao	Zhu Guangyao, Minister, State Environmental Protection Administration, China, stressed the importance of poverty eradication, economic development and meeting the basic needs of people in developing countries. He said developing countries faced grave challenges in order to carry out obligations, and emphasized the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. He called for stable, sufficient, and predictable finances, and practical technology transfer
Idiatou Camara, National Director of the Environment, Ministry of Mines, Geology and the Environment, Guinea	Idiatou Camara
Masoumeh Ebtekar	Masoumeh Ebtekar, Vice-President, Iran, stated that the formal adoption of the Stockholm Convention is a manifestation of the determination of the world to cherish the value of life and nature. Emphasizing the need to promote an ethical and non-material approach that requires sacrifices, she highlighted environmental management and sustainable development policies in her country Listen to the RealAudio
Christine Todd Whitman, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Governor, USA, mentioned personal endorsement of the treaty by the US President Bush and said that the US is already on its way to implementation of the Convention. She underscored the country’s commitment to technical and financial assistance to the developing countries, highlighting allocating for these purposes over USD$22 million within 5 last years and USD$3.5 million in 2001. She underlined the US intent to co-operate with the GEF in implementation of the Convention and to continue work on capacity building in developing countries in the interim Listen to the RealAudio	Christine Todd Whitman
Christine Todd Whitman	Christine Todd Whitman, speaks to the press after signing the Convention
Jim Willis	Farida Jaidi, Ambassador, Moroccan Embassy in Sweden, said it was essential to give developing countries the assistance they require to enable them to implement the Convention. She advocated converting developing country debt into environmental investments
Rejoice T. Mabudafhasi, Deputy Minister, Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, South Africa, highlighted health problems related to POPs, and hoped the Convention would assist in addressing the problems of the poor and bettering the lives of citizens. She hoped that projects related to the Convention would be showcased during the World Summit on Sustainable Development. She said South Africa was ready to participate in all resolutions, and would initiate a programme on POPs to showcase at the Summit Listen to the RealAudio	Rejoice T. Mabudafhasi
Anahit Aleksandryan	Anahit Aleksandryan, Head of Department of Hazardous Substances and Wastes Management, Ministry of Nature Protection, Armenia
Siv Fridleifsdottir, Minister for the Environment, Iceland, highlighted that the Convention is the first global agreement focusing on pollution prevention instead of “end-of-pipe” solutions. She foresaw further strengthening of safety rules on chemicals as a result of consumer demand. She said that implementation in all countries implementation can start immediately, and welcomed the GEF’s work on technical and financial assistance, as well as future INC work on listing additional chemicals and preventing new POPs from entering the market. Underlying the importance of cooperation between the Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, she proposed colocating the Secretariats Listen to the RealAudio
Fatoumata Jallow Ndoye, Coordinator of Technical Services Network, National Environment Agency, Gambia
Maj-Inger Klingvall, Minister of the Development Cooperation, Migration and Asylum Policy, Sweden, said sustainable and responsible management of chemicals should be self-financing in the long run and said public, private, domestic and international sources have complementary roles to play. She underscored the need for continuing Official Development Assistance (ODA), especially to the poorest countries, for capacity and institution building and for technical assistance. She expressed Sweden’s commitment to reaching the ODA target of .07% of GNP, and said Sweden will increase its ODA to .087% by 2004. She indicated a contribution of an additional 8 million Swedish Krona for POPs. Listen to the RealAudio
Philippe Zeller, Ambassador for Environment, France
Jürgen Trittin	Jürgen Trittin, Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany, said that cooperation between governments and civil society and NGOs was critical to the successful outcome of the negotiations. In particular, he thanked Greenpeace and WWF for their efforts. Addressing producers, he called for no new POPs, and urged the chemicals industry to assist in developing alternatives to DDT, and in the disposal of obsolete POPs stocks. He said developing countries needed technical and financial assistance from industrialized countries. He restated Germanyï¿½s offer to house the future secretariat and underscored Germanyï¿½s commitment to ratifying the Convention before the World Summit on Sustainable Development Listen to the RealAudio
Siri Bjerke, Minister of the Environment, Norway
Alhaji Mohammed Kabir Sï¿½id	Alhaji Mohammed Kabir Sï¿½id, Minister of Environment, Nigeria,called for capacity building, technology transfer and a means of compliance as top priorities for the successful implementation of the Convention, and signaled the intent to seek the full benefits of the GEF as the main financial mechanism
Dominic K. Fobih, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Ghana, said he expected the following from the Convention: assistance in building human and institutional capacity in order to identify chemicals and test their presence in human tissue; awareness raising programmes on the health implications associated with POPs use; provision of alternative environmentally friendly chemicals, particularly for use as pesticides; and adequate mechanisms in developed countries to prevent improper labeling of chemicals that are imported by developing countries. He hoped that requests for assistance would not face technical or administrative impediments and would receive urgent consideration Listen to the RealAudio
The WWF gave away free "Global POPS Tour" T-Shirts	The ENB POPSD team. Top left: Leila Mead; Top right: Tamilla Gaynutdinova; Bottom left: Wendy Jackson; Bottom right: David Fernau
One of three murals on the wall at "Folkets Hus" - the Conference Center. These murals depict three separate epochs in the Swedish Workers Movement.