Strategies and Actions  

The set of strategies and actions presented here represents an initial stage and the result of the first exercise of a group of organizations willing to take political action on the chemicals issue and environmental justice.  It is the result from the group’s first meeting and such effort is part of a continuous process. 

The strategies suggested [○] and actions [■] are the following: 

• Access to Information  

○ Strategy: to increase the access to information, stimulating the licensing agencies to divulge environmental and health information to the general public.

Actions

■ To participate in the development and implementation actions towards the official pollutants register (POPs and others)

■ To assure the participation of the NGOs in the development and implementation actions towards the national register.

■ To participate in the PRTR development and implementation. 

○ Strategy: to reformulate part of the environment assessment and licensing of polluting activities.

Actions

■ To include the POPs perspective in the second phase of the Licensing Agreement between FBOMS and MMA.

■ To propose that big scale businesses that are liable to emit POPs be licensed only by the federal licensing agency - IBAMA (p. ex., steel refineries, incineration plants, chlor-alkali plants, PVC plants). 

■ To require that the public licensing audiences be held out of business hours.

■ To require that the information be supplied previously, in a comprehensible language and at websites to be provided by the undertakers and governmental authorities.

■ To propose that every and each POPs emissions be considered in the license renew process.

■ To adopt the BAT/BEP for new plants within the scope of the Stockholm Convention on POPs in the licensing process.  

• Inventory of PCBs

○ Strategy: to identify and quantify PCBs stocks

■ To make the inventory of equipment containing PCBs (either still functioning and/or out of order) in partnership with the private sector.

■ To identify the equipment containing PCBs with the support of the community. 

■ To sample and monitor areas and equipments containing PCBs still functioning and stored PCBs equipment. 

■ To identify the destination of the PCBs stocks.

■ To press the industry to allow easy access by the public to information about quantities and PCBs stock places.  

• Waste and Residues Management

○ Strategy: Social inclusion of the waste pickers in the waste management system.

■ To identify the waste pickers unions at a federal, state and local levels.

■ To promote the social integration of the waste pickers in the waste management system.

■ To promote forums for interchanges of successful experiences in partnership with waster pickers, local authorities and relevant stakeholders.

○ Strategy: Zero Waste Policy

■ To promote discussions and development of zero waste programs.

■ to integrate the waste pickers and other groups in the multi-sector discussions about a zero waste policy. 

■ To identify techniques of waste composting organic fraction management

■ To identify and develop waste composting market opportunities.

■ To require from the Ministry of Health medical care waste management programs and the compromise to shut down incineration plants. 

• Obsolete Pesticides and Stocks

○ Strategy: Multi-sector involvement to destroy obsolete pesticides and stocks.

■ Inventory of pesticides containing obsolete POPs with the support of the agricultural organizations, small farmers, organic farmers and rural workers associations, including sem-terra social movements.

■ Development of strategies to destroy pesticides containing obsolete POPs with multi-sector participation.

■ Research and promotion of implementation of destruction technologies without incineration (non-combustion technologies).

■ To press the government to promote the articulation among different governmental organizations and other stakeholders in order to stimulating agro-ecology practices and reducing the pesticides utilization until their total elimination.

○ Strategy: involvement and support to the DDT’s victims

■ Identification of the governmental workers that manipulated DDT in mosquito eradication campaigns (FUNASA and others).

■ To identify all areas and communities contaminated by irregular deposits of DDT in the country.

■ To guarantee the participation of the contaminated workers’ and other victims’ representatives in events to discuss DDT.  

• Contaminated Areas

○ Strategy:  Identification

■ To set up criteria and indicators of soil contamination with POPs and other pollutants.

 ■ To require the contaminated areas mapping.

■ To require the decontamination and recovery of contaminated areas using safe and well assessed technologies.

■ To press the government to promote seminars on treatment technologies for contaminated areas.

■ To stimulate the technology exchange via pilot projects based on non-thermal technological systems (non-incineration).

■ To stimulate the development of alternative decontamination techniques.

■ To promote partnerships with universities to produce assessment technical reports on contaminated areas under studies.

■ To help the development and implementation of a financial mechanism, for example, a fund specifically planned to attend the governmental demands pertinent to contaminated areas.

■ To participate effectively in the elaboration of a priority list of contaminated areas.

■ To elaborate and publish a book on the main cases of contamination, containing the methodologies applied to environmental recovery of the areas, and evidences of the communities. 

• Diffusion of Information

○ Strategy: diffusion of information and mobilization for the Stockholm Convention on POPs.

■ To produce informative material in accessible language

■ to translate and adapt the existing international material prepared by Pesticide Action Network (PAN).

■ To promote publicity campaign with well-known personalities such as the cartoonist Ziraldo.

■ To  create a website to make available the basic information about the Stockholm Convention on POPs.

■ To develop and promote educational programs to enhance the awareness of children and other vulnerable groups.

■ To involve the community radio networks and to develop radio programs focusing the rural communities. 

• Capacity building of Community Leaders aiming to the Stockholm Convention on POPs.

○ Strategy: capacity-building of community organizations and civil society.

■ To identify or create capacity-building infra-structure.

■ To promote capacity-building and leadership courses on the Stockholm Convention on POPs developed in partnership with governments and NGOs.

■ To identify stakeholders that may be multipliers.

■ To promote capacity building-courses focusing social multipliers formation such as waste pickers unions, housewives, nurses, community leaders and others.

■ To promote capacity-building courses that include the National Solid Waste Policy analysis.

■ To promote capacity-building courses for journalists and the media.

■ To develop environmental diagnosis based on community as a tool for the community involvement.

■ To identify and multiply community involvement experiences.

○ Strategy: Focal areas capacity-building

■ To promote capacity-building courses on incineration and co-incineration, including cement kilns, for affected communities and local groups that work in the health and environment area.

■ To promote capacity-building courses on Zero Waste management. 

• Research Technical Support

○ Strategy: to identify potential supportive technicians and academic research on POPs and community participation.

■ To identify technicians from different sectors as physicians, lawyers, engineers, etc. that may give support to NGOs and citizenship networks.

■ To research the national experience on civil and criminal responsibility in contamination cases.

■ To research the successful replacement of materials such as PVC in another countries.

■ To research impacts to health caused by inadequate final disposal of POPs waste to support the civil society campaigns.  

• To enhance the awareness of the Intergovernmental Organizations such as UNEP and UNIDO towards the discussions related to aluminum and steel.