Environment: Africa seeks help on dangerous chemicals

Nairobi, Jan 29 (IPS/Judith Achieng) - African negotiators, who attended the second inter-governmental meeting at the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi, this week appealed for financial and technical assistance to eliminate the 12 most dangerous chemicals from Africa.

In a statement released in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi this week, the negotiators said they were ready to eliminate the chemicals, also known as Progressive Organic Pollutants (POPs), but that they need "a budget".

"We are ready to eliminate all the POPs in Africa. The question we want addressed is whether industrialised countries will take the responsibility to provide the funds needed for such a programme," said Cheikh Sylla of the Senegal-based Pesticide Action Network Africa (PAN-Africa).

The 12 chemicals, mostly pesticides, include DDT, dieldrin, aldrin, endrin, chlordane, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzane, mirex, and toxaphene which are still in use and stockpiled in a number of developing countries.

An estimated 110,000 tonnes of obsolete or unwanted pesticides are believed to remain in stockpiles in the developing world in the form of highly toxic POPs such as DDT, chloride and dieldrin most of it escaping into the environment. Of the 110,000 tonnes, between 20,000 and 30,000 are believed to be in Africa.

"Our position is very clear, we do not manufacture these chemicals, so it is not our responsibility to commit our resources to fight them," said Jean-Marie Fayemi of the Nairobi-based African Health and Environment Watch.

African delegates also found themselves in a dilemma in their quest to find a cheap alternatives to DDT, which although is dangerous to human health and environment, is in use in more than 20 countries as a strong insecticide against mosquitoes causing malaria. "Eliminating DDT may be
a big problem because we still have a big problem getting alternatives," said Sylla.

At least three million deaths every year are attributed to malaria which poses a threat to 2.5 billion people in 90 countries.

"Industrialised countries and international aid organisations should commit themselves to increased spending to aggressively attack malaria," said Karen Perry of the Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), a Washington-based non-governmental organisation (ngo), in a statement made available to IPS this week.

Speaking on behalf of NGOs, Cliff Curtis of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) expressed dissatisfaction at the five-day talks which ended Friday. "There are gaping holes on information on the table, most governments don't even know if they are producing POPs or how much of the stockpiles they have," he said.

He was also disappointed by the lack of a clear position by industrialised countries on their financial and technical obligations to developing countries.

WWF and Greenpeace are pushing for a total phase out of POPs especially DDT by 2007.

Scientists say DDT affects hormonal signals needed for the body's healthy development. Long-term low doses have been found to cause changes in levels of liver enzymes, increased harmful effects in reproduction and an increased occurrence of liver tumour.

DDT is currently manufactured in India, China, Mexico and Brazil.

Sharyle Patton of the International POPs Elimination Network, which works with more than 130 ngos, said although little research has been carried out in places like Africa, studies in far north communities which consume lots of sea fish contaminated with DDT have shown that many children's bodies no longer produce enough antibodies to work with vaccines. She said DDT also compromises a woman's ability to breastfeed.

"Countries have to be reminded that the cost of eliminating POPs is much less than the cost of taking care of populations vulnerable to diseases," she told IPS.

WWF says cheaper and safer alternatives to DDT are available.  A WWF report released in June last year said chemically treated bednets and environmentally friendly integrated pest control projects have successfully been used in countries like Botswana as effective alternatives to DDT.

Botswana, after 20 years of aerial spraying of DDT on tse-tse fly infested areas, has switched over to the use of bait cloths which are used to attract and kill the flies which are the major cause of cattle deaths and sleeping sickness disease in humans in Africa.

Other successful DDT alternatives like pyrethrum and herbal extracts have been used in countries like Uganda, Kenya, Senegal and Nigeria.

Canadian environmentalist, John Buccini, who chaired some of the Nairobi sessions, said he was happy with the outcome of the meeting. "We have made solid progress this week, we have covered all aspects of the agreement and have agreed on a working draft text as a working basis for the treaty," he said.

UNEP executive director, Klaus Toepfer, who has been calling for an urgent global action on POPs shared similar sentiments. "I am confident that the constructive progress made this week in Nairobi during the second round of talks on a global treaty will produce a legally binding agreement by the year 2000 that will help safeguard people worldwide from these dangerous pollutants and protect generations to come," he said.

Buccini said the third round of talks, scheduled for September/October in Geneva, Switzerland, will discuss a timetable for phasing out production as well as the financial, technical and capacity needs for environmentally friendlier substitutes for each of the listed 12 chemicals.

"We shall decide then what mechanisms to adopt and make serious proposals," he said, adding that "for a number of chemicals which have ready alternatives including DDT, we will propose a cease in production, but for others we will restrict production until proper alternatives have been developed."

But he noted that some POPs, like chlorine which occur as products of combustion of industrial chemicals, will be hard to eliminate.

James Willis, a top UNEP official, said UNEP's Global Environmental Facility (GEF), which finances a number of chemical-related projects around the world, will make available funds for African countries to eliminate the listed 12 chemicals. He did not elaborate.