There is an urgent need to reduce the production and use of hazardous chemicals including agrochemicals, which are major soil pollutants. Microplastics are also an emerging threat to soils and an entryway into the food chain. Fortunately, there are multilateral environmental agreements that are tackling the trade and production of plastics and hazardous chemicals, which is an important lever in tackling soil pollution on a global scale.
Stockholm Convention (SC) and Rotterdam Convention (RC)
The Rotterdam Convention (RC) is a legally binding Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure for certain hazardous chemicals (HCs) and pesticides in international trade and the Stockholm Convention (SC), according to which the exporting country must obtain consent from the importing country in order to trade HCs. The second provision of the convention is information and knowledge exchange which facilitates the exchange of information among parties concerning hazardous chemicals. The Secretariat of the Convention must be notified of any changes in national regulations regarding the restrictions or banning of a chemical.
The SC is a multilateral treaty focused on protecting human health by requiring parties to take measures to eliminate or reduce the release (unintentional and intentional) of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Pesticides make up the majority of chemicals that are subject to both Conventions (FAO, 201). Núñez-Rocha and Martínez-Zarzoso (2018) find that when an exporting country ratifies the RC, a reduction of imports in HCs is observed after ratification, if the trade is from an OECD to a non-OECD country. For SC, reductions are observed in trade shipments from OECD to non-OECD countries in POPs for non-OECD importers, more significantly than the RC.
Developing countries still face difficulties in banning pesticides as eco-friendly alternatives are too expensive, or stockpiles still exist in those countries (FAO, 2021). However, it's not just developing nations. The USA hasn't ratified the RC and is lagging behind leading agricultural producers including Brazil, the EU, and China in banning harmful pesticides (Figure 1). This is likely due to the lack of government legislation on pesticides in the US, as it still relies on industry-initiated, voluntary cancellation of pesticides.
Figure 1. The number of pesticides approved for outdoor agricultural use in the USA that are banned/being phased out in EU, Brazil (BRA), China (CHN). Source: Donley (2019).
UN Treaty on Plastic Pollution
A historical resolution occurred recently at the UN Environment Assembly at Nairobi when representatives from 175 nations, along with heads of state, ministers of environment, and other stakeholders agreed to start negotiating the world's first legally binding agreement on plastic pollution by 2024. The treaty aims to address the entire lifecycle of plastic, including its production, design, and disposal which will also address the issue of microplastic production and spread.
Fortunately, the agreement will focus on all types of pollution caused by plastics, not just marine pollution. This could include limits on making new plastic. However, like other multilateral agreements, there will be barriers to ambitious global actions due to the number and diversity of countries involved, and their unique socio-economic contexts. Another barrier would be the vested interests of corporations. For example, Geddie et al. (2022) reports that the plastics industry seeks to lobby against preventing new plastics production and instead push for chemical recycling and plastic to fuel processes.
References
Donley, N. (2019). The USA lags behind other agricultural nations in banning harmful pesticides. Environmental Health, 18(1), 44. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-019-0488-0
FAO and UNEP (2021). Global assessment of soil pollution: Report. Chapter 3: Sources of soil pollution. https://www.fao.org/3/cb4894en/online/src/html/chapter-03-3.html
Geddie, J., Volcovici, V., & Brock, J. (2022, February 18). INSIGHT-U.N. pact may restrict plastic production. Big Oil aims to stop it. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/global-plastic-treaty-idAFL8N2UR6F9
Núñez-Rocha, T., & Martínez-Zarzoso, I. (2019). Are international environmental policies effective? The case of the Rotterdam and the Stockholm Conventions. Economic Modelling, 81, 480–502. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2018.04.013
Parra, A., & Arkin, C. (2022, March 1). UNEA Convenes on Global Plastics Treaty in Nairobi. Foreign Policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/03/01/global-plastics-treaty-regulation-nairobi-unea/
UNEP. (2022, March 2). Historic day in the campaign to beat plastic pollution: Nations commit to develop a legally binding agreement. UN Environment. Retrieved from https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/historic-day-campaign-beat-plastic-pollution-nations-commit-develop
UN to take first step towards “historic” plastic treaty. (2022, March 2). CNA. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/sustainability/plastic-pollution-ban-un-takes-first-step-towards-historic-treaty-2531036