OPCW Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü (right) and the President of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), Professor Natalia Tarasova, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today pledging to enhance cooperation to keep abreast of developments in chemistry, responsibility and ethics in science, and education and outreach.
The Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition for Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü, and the President of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), Professor Natalia Tarasova, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today pledging to enhance cooperation to keep abreast of developments in chemistry, responsibility and ethics in science, and education and outreach.
Ambassador Üzümcü remarked, “Promoting responsible science is a crucial endeavour to advance the goals of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Without scientists, there is no disarmament. IUPAC’s unwavering commitment to a world permanently free of chemical weapons demonstrates the strength of this norm and the conviction of chemistry researchers and practitioners globally to protect it”.
Professor Tarasova expressed, “Through the cooperation between our organisations, we look to help humanity achieve Sustainable Development Goals in a world free of chemical weapons and in a world in which achievements in chemical science and technology are used only for the benefit of humankind and the environment”.
The MOU opens a new chapter and underscores the long-standing and productive relationship between the OPCW and IUPAC.
Background
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry is the world authority on chemical nomenclature and terminology, and is a leader in the provision of objective scientific expertise for the resolution of critical global issues that involve every aspect of chemistry. Its Membership Network currently comprises 58 national member countries; 31 associated organizations; and 58 company associates interested in supporting or participating in IUPAC activities through the Committee on Chemistry and Industry.
IUPAC is a permanent observer at sessions of the OPCW Advisory Board on Education and Outreach. An OPCW representative serves as an ex officio member of IUPAC’s Committee on Chemistry Education since 2014.
As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW oversees the global endeavour to permanently eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Convention’s entry into force in 1997 – with its 192 States Parties – it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.
To date, nearly 94 per cent of all chemical weapon stockpiles declared by possessor States have been destroyed under OPCW verification. For its extensive efforts in eliminating chemical weapons, the OPCW received the 2013 Nobel Prize for Peace.
More information
- IUPAC
- IUPAC Endorses Hague Ethical Guidelines:
- 49th General Assembly and 46th IUPAC World Chemistry Congress
- The OPCW Advisory Board on Education and Outreach
- Memorandum of Understanding Between the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons