It’s a great pleasure to present DG Environment’s “2022 Highlights” newsletter - a special edition to wrap up the year and revisit some of the accomplishments of the past 12 months.

The Commission proposed a revised Regulation on classification, labelling and packaging of chemicals (CLP) and introduced new hazard classes for endocrine disruptors and other harmful chemical substances to better protect people and the environment from hazardous chemicals.

The Commission published a Restrictions Roadmap, providing detailed information on all ongoing work on future restrictions under the EU chemical legislation.

The Commission has launched a public consultation on the REACH Regulation, a key action of the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability.

Drinking water in the EU will have to be monitored more closely for the potential presence of two endocrine disruptors, under a new 'watch list'.

The first segment of the 4th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP-4) took place online from 1 to 5 November, with over a thousand participants and an ambitious programme of work. It constructively considered important issues including evaluation, reporting, funding, increased international cooperation, and the listing of new products under the convention. A second in-person segment is planned for 21 - 25 March 2022 in Bali, Indonesia.

Under the theme “Global Agreements for a Healthy Planet: Sound management of chemicals and waste”, the fifteenth meeting of the COP to the Basel Convention, the tenth meeting of the COP to the Rotterdam Convention and the tenth meeting of the COP to the Stockholm Convention (BRS triple COP) convened in a virtual format from 26 to 30 July 2021. A face-to-face segment will follow in Geneva, Switzerland, from 6 to 17 June 2022.