Continued support for a non-toxic environment

What was achieved in the first centre period and what are the plans forward?

-  We are very happy that FRAM will continue as an academic platform for research on chemical pollution combining both natural and social sciences. During the first centre period FRAM was quite successful both in terms of research publications and in providing relevant knowledge for policy making, said Daniel Slunge, Centre Director of FRAM, and researcher at the Environment for Development, School of Business, Economics and Law.

- We also invested a lot in multi-disciplinary collaboration and research applications. As many of these applications were approved I think we have good possibilities to continue being successful both in terms of research publications and policy engagement. Not least the new research of a group of FRAM researchers on the use of AI for a more proactive chemical management is very promising.

Could you tell us more about FRAM’s policy engagement?

- We have developed a very active policy engagement with stakeholders at different levels. This work will continue. At the global level we are involved in the science coalition for a global plastics treaty and in the efforts to set up an Intergovernmental Panel on Chemical Pollution, similar to the panels we have for climate and biodiversity. It will also be important to provide research based knowledge to the upcoming revision of REACH, as well as policies to tackle the ongoing PFAS crisis.

Where do you see FRAM having impact?

- FRAM’s work on a mixture assessment factor made it all the way into the EU’s chemicals strategy for sustainability towards a toxic-free environment. This is just one example. Looking forward, I think FRAM can also make a very important contribution by strengthening the knowledge about chemical pollution in the global south. This is where we see examples of really high levels of pollution, and in combination with weak governance and little research-based knowledge, this can be a toxic cocktail!

- My ambition is to strengthen the collaboration between FRAM and the research centres in Africa, Latin America and Asia which form part of the Environment for Development Initiative (www.efdinitiative.org) which is coordinated here at UGOT.