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The Summary for Policymakers - Environmental Dimensions of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) launched on the sidelines of UNEA 5.2 taking place from 28 February to 4 March 2022.The report calls to strengthen environmental action within the ‘One Health’ response to AMR, looks at the pollutants that exacerbate AMR in the environment, where they come from, and provides an overview of the environmental action required.

The State of Sustainability Research for Chemicals of Concern identifies the impacts of chemicals of concern within and for the manufacturing of ICT products on human health and the environment and illustrates the need to shift to safer, more sustainable substances in electronics. The research identifies strategies to reduce chemicals of concern through understanding the chemical used within products and processes, determining the health impacts of chemicals, preventing the use of known toxic chemicals, and identifying safer alternatives. Finally, this

Chemicals provide a variety of specific functions in electric and electronic products or in their manufacturing process. However, some of these chemicals are hazardous and can cause concern related to their potential for adverse impacts on human health and the environment. Such impacts can occur throughout the product’s life cycle, including raw material extraction, processing and manufacturing, but also during product use or at end-of-life. However, decisions influencing product ingredients are usually taken at upstream stages of the value chain

PFAS are non-aromatic, organic chemicals in which the hydrogen atoms in the carbon chain are fully replaced (“per”) or partly but almost entirely replaced (“poly”) by fluorine atoms. At least 4,700 substances belong to this group of substances. All these chemicals have in common that their environmental degradability is fairly slow and very limited and therefore remain resistant for years to decades.PFAS are “forever chemicals.” Even when being incinerated for disposal, very high temperatures are required for these compounds to

This report provides an overview of the current state of circularity in the electronics value chain in Africa, identifies key areas of concern, provides appropriate recommendations, and proposes priority actions to improve circularity of the sector.The recommendations focus on the individual life cycle stages of the electronics value chain, as well as on aspects that cut across the value chain. The transition towards a more circular electronics sector in Africa would require a holistic, coordinated approach bridging five key areas

The development of plastic products does not systematically take sustainability, particularly from a chemicals perspective, into account. This report seeks to enable the creation of inherently sustainable plastic products by integrating sustainable chemistry thinking in the design process. By applying a chemicals lens during the plastic material selection process, designers and engineers can make informed decisions to incorporate sustainable plastic during the conceptualisation phase of their products. The report provides an integrated approach to sustainable plastic selection from a chemicals

A GEF-funded (Global Environment Facility) project on “Global best practices on emerging chemical policy issues of concern under SAICM” was launched in 2019, targeting Sri Lanka amongst other countries. The activities under the project include a focus on tracking and controlling chemicals along the value chains of the building and construction sector. To that end, a team from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) have been working with stakeholders in Sri Lanka on identifying chemicals of concern in the construction material

Scientific knowledge to assess the exposure to nanomaterials continues to improve. The OECD compiled an inventory of available models and tools for assessing occupational, consumer and environmental exposure to Nanomaterials. 54 tools and models were initially compiled and following in-depth analyses, 10 occupational, 7 consumer and 6 environmental tools/models were recommended or evaluated as suitable for assessing exposure to nanomaterials. The detailed information on the analyses and evaluations are provided in the reports accessible from the Series on Nanomaterials website