UNIDO
In line with its commitment to Stockholm Convention, Sri Lanka is working to protect the environment and human health from the effects of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other man-made chemicals known as Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).
PCBs were commercially produced worldwide on a large scale between the 1930s and 1980s, and have been used in many industrial applications such as electricity transformers and capacitors. However, PCBs have dangerous effects on the environment and human health. They are carcinogenic and have been linked to developmental disorders in children.
Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment (MMDE) is working with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to introduce and implement a PCB management system to eliminate releases from PCB waste stockpiles and equipment containing PCBs.
AS THE New Year beckons, a reminder of the need to work to build back better, given the devastation of COVID-19, has come from one project manager tasked to help realise climate resilience and sustainable development for the Caribbean.
“We have developed an economic system allowing for ‘endless growth’ resulting in ever-growing industrialisation and production, new cities and faster transport facilities for the increasing human population,” observed Jan Betlem, regional coordinator for the ‘Integrating Water, Land and Ecosystems Management in Caribbean Small Island States’ (IWEco) project.
He was writing in the quarterly newsletter of the Global Environment Facility-funded project, which was published in mid-December.