UNDP has produced a new video feature highlighting national work to eliminate pollutants which abound in seemingly safe spaces and objects across the country.

These include chemicals in certain Pesticides. Fire retardants used by firefighters. PCBs in Electrical Transformers. Burning garbage. Even in disposed cars.

These are a just a few sources of ‘forever chemicals’ known as Persistent Organic Pollutants – POPs for short. These forever chemicals can last a very long time in our air, water supply, soil, and the human body.  

POPs are dangerous if not properly handled and disposed … So dangerous, that the world community signed the 2004 Stockholm Convention to regulate and eliminate the most deadly of them all.

The video feature highlights aspects of the ongoing work to eliminate POPs in Jamaica spearheaded by the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, the Pesticides Control Authority and the National Environment and Protection Agency. As a signatory to the Stockholm Convention Jamaica is making further updates to its National Implementation Plan (NIP) to address POPs with financing from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in partnership with UNDP,   Regular updates and implementation of NIPs contribute to reducing the negative impacts of these pollutants.