Eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention

Geneva, Switzerland, from 1-12 May 2023

Venue: Geneva International Conference Centre (CICG), 17 rue de Varembé, Geneva, Switzerland

Outcomes: The eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention (SC COP-11) was held in Geneva from 1-12 May 2023 back-to-back with the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention (BC COP-16) and the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention (RC COP-11). The theme of the meeting was " Accelerating action: Targets for the sound management of chemicals and waste ".

SC COP-11 adopted 27 decisions, among which eight are joint to two or three of the conventions, for instance on enhanced cooperation with other bodies, technical assistance, preventing and combating illegal traffic and trade and the clearing-house mechanism. The main outcomes of the Conference include: the amendment of Annex A to the Convention to list three new chemicals therein, namely the pesticide methoxychlor and the industrial chemicals Dechlorane Plus and UV-328, and the adoption of the report on progress towards the elimination of polychlorinated biphenyls which urged Parties to meet their obligations towards the 2025 and 2028 deadlines under the Convention, while recognizing the specific needs and challenges of developing countries. The Conference also adopted the decision on procedures and mechanisms on compliance, marking a historical achievement after two decades of work. The decision established a Compliance Committee – the members of which will be elected at the next meeting – and which will help Parties in fulfilling their obligations under the Convention by examining systemic issues of interest to all Parties and challenges faced by individual Parties.

Thanks to voluntary contributions from the Governments of China, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands, financial assistance was provided to support the participation of developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition to attend the meetings.

Working languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

Meeting documents

  • Report
  • Decisions
  • Working documents
  • Information documents