WHAT \ U.N. Safe Planet Campaign

U.N. Safe Planet Campaign

SAFE PLANET, the UNEP and FAO-led United Nations Campaign for Responsibility on Hazardous Chemicals and Wastes, was launched in Bali, Indonesia on February 24, 2010 in the margins of the extraordinary meetings of the Conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions. This campaign aims at showing how each of us can take responsibility for keeping our planet safe against hazardous chemicals and wastes. By sharing responsibility, the Campaign promotes the life-cycle approach to chemicals and waste management at all levels of society, from Government, industry and educational institutions, to community-led initiatives, grassroots organizations, and the decisions of individual households and consumers.

In the short time since it's launch, Safe Planet has gained partners and champions around the world, rapidly propelling the campaign issues into mainstream media, fusing the energy and commitment of international leaders in arts, culture, sports, science, education, business, faith and politics to motivate governments, industry, communities and individuals to respond to the urgent need for action in our interdependent world.

Among the commitments of the Safe Planet Campaign is to promote the programmes of the work of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions and the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management. The flagship issues of the Safe Planet Campaign as reflecting the mandates of the 3 Conventions are body burden, climate change, e-waste, exposure/health, heavy metals, plastic debris, safe products, and right-to-know.  What are the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions? Please visit the SAFE PLANET website for more detailed information on each issue.

Part of the educational outreach of Safe Planet's mission is to reach as wide an audience as possible. We hope to continue following the quality work of such groups and individuals as you will see here, creating public awareness about these very important issues.

SUBMISSION  (Dir - Stefan Jarl, Sweden)
Submission is a documentary about the ‘chemical society' - the society we have been building since the Second World War. Back then, humans used 1 million tones of chemicals per year; the figure today is 500 million tones.  The chemical industry is the fastest-growing industry in the world. The film is about the 100,000 chemicals we use every day.  Consulting a wide range of scientists from the United States, the UK, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Finland, Denmark and Sweden, the filmmaker seeks answers: What problems can these chemicals cause?

"One of the most important films of the century."  Michael Stanley Jones, UN                                          

5 GYRES: Understanding Plastic Pollution Through Exploration, Education & Action

The mission of 5Gyres is to end plastic pollution. Together with their partners, Pangaea Explorations and Algalita Marine Research Foundation, 5 Gyres organizes expeditions to research and communicate the global impact of plastic pollution in the world's oceans and employs strategies to eliminate the accumulation of plastic pollution in the 5 subtropical gyres.  They share their findings through multimedia outlets and peer-reviewed publications.

Learn about how scientists are concerned that plastic debris in the ocean can transport toxic substances which may end up in the food chain, causing potential harm to ecosystem and human health.

BODY BURDEN (USA, 2010, Dir. Howard Baral)

On May 12, 2011, at the UN’s Headquarters in New York, the Safe Planet Campaign hosted a roundtable discussion on the global burden of human exposure to hazardous chemicals and how biomonitoring information can support the Millennium Development Goals and World Summit on Sustainable Development 2020 target to achieve sound management of chemicals and wastes. Biomonitoring is the measurement of the body burden in one’s blood of toxic chemical compounds, elements, or their metabolites in biological substances.  They also screened a short film, Body Burden Part 1 (USA, 2010) featuring American screen actor and eco-activist Ed Begley Jr. and Norwegian Olympic Gold Medallist and 2-time Overall World Cup Ski Champion Stine Hattestad Bratsberg.

What is a Body Burden?  Toxic chemicals, both naturally occurring and man-made, often get into the human body. We may inhale them, swallow them in contaminated food or water, or in some cases, absorb them through skin. We are exposed to hundreds of chemicals in everyday products we use. Paints and varnishes, gasoline, glues, cosmetics, clothes dry-cleaned with solvents, plastic food containers, and home and garden pesticides are just a few examples. The term " body burden " refers to the total amount of these chemicals that are present in the human body at a given point in time. 

To see more films, visit SAFE PLANET'S VIDEO GALLERY.

FRIENDS OF SAFE PLANET include:

Mr. Howard Baral, R.C. Baral & Co/Live Planet Aid, Los Angeles, USA

Mr. Jan-Gustav Strandenaes, ANPED, Norway

Mr. Ron Ritter, Pangaea Explorations, Laguna Beach, CA, USA

Ms. Aline Berthold, Umweltbundesamt GmBH, Austria

Ms. Barbara Benish, Art Dialogue, Czech Republic

Ms. Eileen Haring Woods, Haring Woods Studio, London, UK

Ms. Jana Hajduchová, Geneva, Switzerland

Ms. Liane Crae Soukup, Houston, Texas, USA

Ms. Stine Hattestad Bratsberg, PuRE CSR Consulting, Norway

Ms. Vinitaa Apte, TERRE Policy Centre, India

Prof. Bert van Bavel, MTM Laboratory, Őrebro University, Sweden

To become a supporter of the Safe Planet Campaign, or for more information, contact:

Michael Stanley-Jones, Public Information Officer, Joint Services of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, UNEP, Geneva;  Safe Planet Campaign UN Focal Point.

VISIT the SAFE PLANET WEBPAGE for more information or FIND THEM on FACEBOOK

Safe Planet Planning Retreat at ArtMill