Future Challenges to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants

Sammanfattning: This paper aims to identify challenges that the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic might face in the future. The research was carried out in the form of a review of existing literature on the Stockholm Convention and other relevant environmental agreements as well as performing primary research of original data and political documents. This study shows that the Stockholm Convention will face a multitude of challenges, ranging from the issues connected to the implementation of the regime on a domestic and local scale, to the possible effects of climate change. The challenges have been categorized as: Scientific and Technological Issues, Trade-related Issues, Implementation, Compliance and Financing Issues, Chemical Management Issues and ultimately Synergies & SAICM Issues. Through the synergies process currently undertaken within the chemicals and waste regime, other multilateral environmental agreements have reason to be interested in the outcome of challenges to the Stockholm Convention. Hopefully the results of this paper might serve as a brief summary of potential challenges of the future and thus be of value to a range of actors including those directly engaged in the political process of the Stockholm Convention, Convention Secretariats, government officials, non-governmental Organizations and scholars in the field of global environmental governance.