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Burlington Consensus 3 - A United Nations Science-Policy Panel for Chemicals, Waste and Pollution Prevention - Scientists at the Heart of Global Policymaking

27 September 2024 10:00-18:30, London, United Kingdom


Introduction
In March 2022, the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) 5.2 passed a resolution initiating the establishment of a science-policy panel to contribute further to the sound management of chemicals and waste and to prevent pollution. The Royal Society of Chemistry was key in influencing this outcome, with the UK an early co-sponsoring country.  
 
Following on from the success of the first two RSC Burlington Consensus events in January and December 2022, at which the scientific community called strongly for the establishment of such a panel, the RSC is now hosting another open and interactive hybrid event, Burlington Consensus 3 with international participants. We will be in person in RSC Burlington House, London and online for inclusive and diverse participation from around the world.
 
The aims of the event are to share what has happened between January 2023 and July 2024 in the Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) process at the United Nations from meetings in Bangkok, Nairobi and in Geneva. We will look at how scientists can get involved in the work of the new panel, the current issues of international importance in the new UN Global Framework on Chemicals (GFC) and other global conventions that could be prioritised by the new science-policy panel. The objective of the event is to raise awareness, build networks, garner ideas and policy themes that can contribute to the work of the panel, with the goal to be able to nominate panels when the panel is  established in 2025. 

It is hoped that a new UN independent intergovernmental science-policy platform for chemicals, waste and pollution prevention can provide the formal processes required to build relationships and foster trust between the scientific and policymaking communities around the world to create impactful action on pollution prevention. 

You can join this event in person or virtually and it will feature four panel discussions and a keynote lecture. Participants will be able to submit questions and suggestions to the group. We are aiming to create a diverse group of stakeholders from all areas of chemicals, waste and pollution, and we would very much value your participation.
Speakers
Professor Sir Jim Skea, IPCC, United Kingdom

Professor Sir Jim Skea was elected IPCC Chair for the Seventh Assessment cycle in July 2023. He was Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group III for the 6th Assessment Cycle. From 2009 to 2023, Jim Skea was Professor of Sustainable Energy at Imperial College London. He has research interests in energy, climate change and technological innovation. He was Research Director of the UK Energy Research Centre 2004-12 and Director of the Policy Studies Institute 1998-2004. He was a member of the UK Committee on Climate Change from 2008 until 2018, and Chair of Scotland’s Just Transition Commission from 2018 to 2023.


Professor Gill Reid, University of Southampton, United Kingdom

Gill is Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Southampton and was Head of Chemistry between 2016-2020, and served as President of the Royal Society of Chemistry from 2022-2024.

Her research focuses on coordination and organometallic chemistry, motivated by studies of new ligands to explore the influence of metal-ligand combinations on properties and reactivity, as well as application driven targets. These include developing reagents for use in CVD and electrodeposition of functional thin films and nanostructures. She also works on the development of metal-chelate scaffolds for binding the fluorine-18 radioisotope towards new positron emission tomography (PET) imaging agents.
 


Dr Kay Williams, United Nations Environment Programme, United Kingdom

Kay currently works with the United Nations Environment Programme as Head of the Global Framework on Chemicals secretariat, based in Geneva Switzerland. 

The majority of her career was spent at the UK Department of Food, Environment and Rural Affairs where she was latterly the Head of International Chemicals, Pesticides and Hazardous Wastes hub.  Kay has been a lead negotiator for the Minamata Convention on Mercury, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, Basel Convention on Hazardous Wastes in addition to the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management - SAICM often as Head of the UK delegation.

Externally, she chaired the Chemicals and Biotechnology Committee of the Environmental Health and Safety programme at the OECD; co-chaired the UNEP Special Programme Executive Board in addition to playing an active role in the UN Beyond 2020 intersessional process to develop the new Global Framework on Chemicals.

Kay has a PhD from Imperial College, London and began her career carrying out applied research at the Central Science Laboratory before moving to Government policy in 1999. She has held a wide variety of policy posts ranging from the Common Agricultural Policy through to sustainable procurement.


Aseel Abo-Taleb, Children and Youth Major Group to UNEP , United Kingdom

Aseel is a youth advocate for environmental sustainability and protection, holding a master's in Environment and Resource Management (Energy & Climate) from VU Amsterdam and a Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering from the University of Malaya. He is a research fellow at UNEP GEO-7 report. As a member of the Global Steering Committee of CYMG, he contributes to the coordination of youth engagement in thematic areas related to chemicals, waste, and pollution prevention in different UN processes including UNEA, OECPR, INC, OEWG SPP, International Zero Waste Day, and the GWMO report. Aseel advocates for intergenerational equity in environmental governance and meaningful youth participation in multilateral processes.


Yolanda López-Maldonado, Indigenous Science, Canada

She is an Indigenous scientist whose work in nature conservation bridges natural, social and indigenous sciences. Her career is distinguished by a focus on integrating Indigenous knowledge and earth observations into contemporary science-policy-society fora. She has collaborated with UN organisations in multilateral settings and was recently appointed Lead Author of the Indigenous Knowledge and Local Knowledge for the Global Environment Outlook Report 7, United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). A Young scholar at the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and Junior Fellow the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, she holds a PhD from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (Germany).


Dr Christian Zerfaß, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany

I am researcher in a groundwater study at the University of Jena (Germany), applying untargeted liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to derive patterns in the long-term dynamics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) components. Before, I carried out research at the University of Warwick (UK) and at Mainz University (Germany) in synthetic biology and protein biochemistry.

I am proud RSC member since 2013, have previously served in the Birmingham / West Midlands local section, as volunteer and committee member in the chemists’ community fund (CCF), and am currently part of the water science forum (WSF) interest group committee.


  • Professor Tom Welton Imperial College London, United Kingdom
  • Dr Annette Doherty President, Royal Society of Chemistry, United Kingdom
  • Dr Camilla Alexander-White Royal Society of Chemistry, United Kingdom

Venue
The Royal Society of Chemistry

The Royal Society of Chemistry, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BA, United Kingdom

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