Asbestos petition presented in Geneva

A global petition against the asbestos industry has been delivered to the president of the COP Rotterdam Convention.

The Global Asbestos Action Alliance petition demands that chrysotile asbestos be added to the Rotterdam Convention’s list of hazardous substances, something that the asbestos industry has blocked for more than a decade.

It has 7000 signatories from around the world, demanding support for amendments to the convention proposed by 12 African countries to break the veto of any single country to block listing.

Victims Rajendra Pevekar and Siti Kristina have spoken out on behalf of the 107,000 people who die annually from asbestos-related disease.

Pevekar is a victim of the deadly global asbestos industry from India. His father worked in an asbestos company. As a result, both he and his mother now suffer from asbestos-related disease from secondary exposure.

Meanwhile, Kristina worked in an asbestos factory for 23 years in Indonesia. She was diagnosed with asbestosis in 2012.