International Conference on Chemicals Management
Dubai, February 6th 2006

Sigríður Anna Þórðardóttir, Minister for the Environment, Iceland.

Mr. President,

Iceland welcomes the progress made in the development of SAICM and would especially like to thank you Mr. President and ambassador Viveka Bohn for the excellent work and efforts to make an agreement possible at this meeting.

Mr. President,

First of all I would like to express my sincere condolences to the United Arab Emirates because of the sad demise away of His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Rasid Al Maktoum.

Allow me also to thank the Government of the United Arab Emirates and the city of Dubai for their generous hospitality to host this important conference in the unique city of Dubai.

Modern society is dependent on chemicals and chemical products and each year new chemicals are introduced. But we need to ensure that the economic and social benefits of the use of chemicals are not in any way hampered by negative environmental and health effects. With the globalization chemicals spread wider and faster than before. Therefore international cooperation on the management of chemicals is essential.

Iceland welcomes the structure of SAICM. We see all three components of it, the Ministerial Declaration, the Overarching Strategy and the Global Plan of Action as important and relevant commitments that will promote implementation of international legal obligations and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and support the achievment of targets and goals related to the Millenium Development Goals.

For a country like Iceland, which bases its existence to a large extent on utilisation of living marine resources, the oceans are a matter of great concern. The health of the ocean and a sustainable utilization of its living resources provide the basis for Iceland’s welfare. Around 60% of our export revenues come from marine products.

Protecting the oceans against pollution is therefore a number one priority for Iceland in our international cooperation on environmental issues. Sound management of chemicals is one of the serious challenges we face in ensuring the health of the oceans.

A major threat to the health, productivity and biodiversity of the marine environment originates from land-based activities. At present, eighty percent of marine pollution comes from land-based activities. This pollution affects the most productive areas of the marine environment, namely the coastal zones. UNEP and ILO have estimated that the social cost incurred by the impact on human health from pollution in coastal waters in the world amounts to 12.8 billion US Dollars annually.

The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants was a landmark development to address the most environmentally hazardous substances. Now it is important to control other emerging substances like for instance mercury and other heavy metals, which are transported long distances by watercourses, ocean currents and atmospheric processes. These substances pose risks to human health and the marine environment especially at higher latitudes.

We have high expectations for SAICM to facilitate further progres in bringing about improved management world wide of these chemicals, but even more importantly to ensure that the introduction of new chemicals does not pose new risk to human health and the environment.

The adoption of SAICM will put a new responsibility on UNEP and we are very confident that UNEP will be fully prepared for the task, and my government will do what we can in supporting UNEP in their endeavour.