WWF Applauds Canadian Support of POPS Treaty

“POPs are an urgent global problem that demand urgent global solutions. We are proud of the fact that Canada has played a leadership role in finding solutions to this environmental threat to wildlife and humans – particularly those living in our Arctic regions,” said WWF – Canada president Monte Hummel.

The POPs treaty was finalized in December 2000 by a consensus of 122 countries. The treaty bans or restricts an extremely dangerous class of synthetic chemicals, including DDT, dioxins and furans. Drawn to the Arctic by global air currents, POPs persist in the environment and bioaccumulates in the food chain including the fats of animals. Consequently, POPs are then stored in the body fat of Inuit and other northern aboriginal people who rely, in part, on local foods such as seal and polar bears.

WWF will continue to work closely with the Canadian government to ensure the treaty is ratified in time for the World Summit on Sustainable Development in September 2002. Part of this effort will be to ensure that financial assistance be made available to developing countries where POPs are still widely used. Also, governments must work to ensure that the treaty’s obligations are rapidly implemented.

“While we’ve made tremendous progress on the POPs issue we strongly encourage our government to ensure that our federal regulations on pesticides are as rigorous as the standards set for POPs today in Stockholm,” said Hummel.