The OEWG-12 online segment takes place on 1 and 3 September 2020. For more details, including working documents in the 6 UN languages, see the tentative schedule of work.

A series of information sessions will introduce participants to the Plastic Waste Amendments adopted at the fourteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention that will become effective on 1 January 2021.

The Bureau of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention met online, 25-26 June 2020, to discuss preparations for COP-15 in 2021. The report of that meeting is now available online.

The new text includes the plastic waste amendments made at the 2019 Meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP-14).

The new call for proposals will be presented and discussed during these Basel Convention online meetings.

Click here for COVID-19 medical waste news and guidance, along with other developments related to the sound management of chemicals and waste.

Applications are invited from Basel and Stockholm convention Regional Centres until 15 July 2020.

Preparations for the 2021 Meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP-15) are discussed by the Basel Convention’s COP Bureau, during their online meeting on 25-26 June 2020.

The 14th meeting of the Basel Convention’s Implementation and Compliance Committee, online from 29 June to 3 July, will initiate its work with the consideration of 8 specific submissions from Parties.

Following feedback from regions, the OEWG meeting will not be held on 22 to 25 June 2020. Further consultations to take place on options for rescheduling.

Read the Earth Negotiations Bulletin’s review “State of Global Environmental Governance 2019” published recently by the International Institute for Sustainable Development.

Questionnaires have been distributed to Parties in order to gauge technical assistance needs and gather offers of technology transfer, to assist implementation of the three conventions.

Adopted by Parties one year ago in May 2019, the Amendments become effective on 1 January 2021. Learn all you need to know by consulting the Secretariat’s FAQ, newly online.

The UNEP/TED-ed initiative has attracted millions of children worldwide since launching in April. Join the Plastics Quest, live from Monday 18 May, brought into your home by the BRS Secretariat and partners.

BRS Executive Secretary joins UNEP, WHO, UNEP and others in a webinar on 19 May to discuss necessary responses to increased medical waste in light of the COVID-19 emergency.

Download the Basel Convention’s guidance document on how to manage medical waste in the most sustainable manner.

Working documents in all 6 official UN languages, an overview of working modalities, and useful FAQs are all online in advance of OEQG-12, which takes place online from 22 to 25 June 2020.

The BRS Secretariat is pleased to announce, thanks to generous funding from Norway, the opening of the new Small Grant Programme on Plastic Waste, open to applications from Basel and Stockholm Convention regional centres until 15 July 2020.

Now available online: Overview of concept notes for voluntary contributions for implementing the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm conventions, as approved by COPs in 2019.

The Basel Convention’s COP-15, the Rotterdam Convention’s COP-10 and the Stockholm Convention’s COP-10 will be held back-to-back in Geneva, Switzerland, from 19 to 30 July 2021.

The UN Massive Open Online Course on E-waste is open to all: join the webinar to find out if its for you.

The ground-breaking decision by Parties to clarify which types of plastic waste are included in the Convention’s legally-binding regulatory system entered into force on 24 March 2020.

The new Technical Series from the BRS Secretariat opens with four key publications on national reporting, national reporting best practices, legal frameworks, and illegal traffic.

Photographs are invited from professionals, amateurs and children, and will be judged by a panel including a National Geographic photographer. Deadline for submission: 30 September 2020.

The 12th meeting of the Basel Convention’s Open-Ended Working Group will take place in Geneva, Switzerland from 22 to 25 June 2020, back-to-back with the 14th meeting of the Implementation and Compliance Committee and the meeting of the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention.