Chemicals and Health Branch, Economy Division of United Nations Environment Programme

The Chemicals and Health Branch works to minimize the adverse effects of chemicals and waste on human health and the environment. It is the focal point of UNEP activities on chemicals issues and the main catalytic force in the UN system for concerted global action on the environmentally sound management of hazardous chemicals. More

The Secretariat participates in the following Chemicals and Health Branch-led activities:

  • The Global Mercury Partnership, which is a voluntary and collaborative relationship between various parties, including governmental, non-governmental, public and private, to protect human health and the global environment from the release of mercury and its compounds;
  • The PCB Elimination Network, which is a collaborative framework to enhance information exchange among stakeholders from different sectors to promote the environmentally sound management of PCBs. UNEP Chemicals and Health Branch took over the administration and implementation of the network in 2012, upon the invitation of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention (decision SC-5/7).

Other areas of collaboration can be found on the Synergies website.

Cooperation with the Chemicals and Health Branch also takes place under the joint task force on programmatic cooperation among the Chemicals and Health Branch and the secretariats of the BRS Conventions, the Minamata Convention and SAICM which was established in 2014 and reinvigorated in 2018 with updated terms of reference.