The Basel Convention Implementation and Compliance Committee convened its sixteenth meeting in Geneva on 23 and 24 June and from 29 June to 2 July 2024. Among 13 countries receiving one-on-one support from the Basel Convention Implementation and Compliance Committee to comply with their reporting obligations under the Convention, Cook Islands and Nauru have successfully overcome their challenges. The Committee also held landmark dialogues with the fourteen regional centres under the Convention and a range of entities from the UN system and beyond to identify the range of resources available to Parties to implement the Convention.

Over a six-day marathon meeting, the Committee engaged with 13 Parties facing implementation and compliance difficulties with key obligations under the Convention to develop adequate legislation and to transmit national reports. In depth discussions took place with representatives of Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Cook Islands, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Mauritania, Nauru, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic and Togo, which concluded in the resolution of long-lasting compliance difficulties to transmit national reports faced by two Pacific Small Islands Developing States, Cook Islands and Nauru.

Expressing his satisfaction with the progress achieved, the Chair of the Committee, Mr. Jason Dunn (Australia), said that “The Committee is providing support to Parties that are amongst the most vulnerable to the negative impacts of hazardous wastes. I am delighted to see the leadership shown by Cook Islands and Nauru to improve the protection of human health and the environment in their countries".

Over two days, the Committee also held landmark dialogues with the fourteen regional centres under the Basel Convention and a range of entities from the UN system and beyond to explore ways to harness the full potential of support available to Parties to implement the Convention. Representatives of the United Nations Environment Programme, the Executive Board of the Special Programme on Institutional Strengthening, UN-Habitat, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Grid-Arendal as well as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Costa Rica exchanged information on their activities and on the options available to embed the development of legislation and of national reports in broader efforts to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

“The scope of the wastes covered by the Basel Convention is large, and the implementation of the Convention contributes to achieving a wide range of sustainable development goals. I am grateful to the Committee for having established these linkages and for reminding us that the environmentally sound management of waste is central to the social and economic development of all countries” said Mr Rolph Payet, Executive Secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions. He went on to underscore the importance of the work carried out and congratulated the Committee in progressing its work on the development of guidance to help Parties embed the implementation of the Convention in the broader sustainable development agenda.

The Committee also tackled compliance challenges with a series of core obligations under the Convention which legally bounds its 191 Parties. It continued its meticulous work of classifying Parties’ compliance performance with their national reporting obligations, and concluded that, for the first time ever, Parties have reached one of the targets set by the Basel Convention Conference of the Parties. The Committee also considered the outcome of the self-review of their legislation undertaken by 64 Parties, thereby identifying areas of improvement to ensure that national legislation fully reflects the provisions of the Convention. Preventing and combating illegal traffic was also high on the agenda the Committee, with the review of a report scoping the extent of illegal traffic which identifies that three main waste streams are currently of concern, namely, waste electrical and electronic equipment and their parts, end-of-life vehicles and their parts and plastic waste.

The Committee will resume its sixteenth meeting in October 2024. The outcomes of the Committee will be considered by the seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention which will take place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 28 April to 5 May 2025.

The work of the Basel Convention Implementation and Compliance Committee benefits from generous financial support provided by Belgium, the European Union, Japan, Norway and Switzerland.

NOTES for EDITORS:

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal is the most comprehensive international environment treaty on hazardous and other wastes and is almost universal, with 191 Parties. With an overarching objective of protecting human health and the environment against the adverse effects of hazardous wastes, its scope covers a wide range of waste subject to transboundary movements defined as hazardous based on their origin and/or composition and characteristics, as well as three types of waste defined as “other wastes”, namely household waste, residues arising from the incineration of household wastes ash and certain plastic wastes requiring special consideration.

The Basel Convention Implementation and Compliance Committee is mandated to assist Parties to comply with their obligations under the Convention and to facilitate, promote, monitor and aim to secure the implementation of and compliance with the obligations under the Convention.

The Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions, or BRS Secretariat, supports Parties implement the three leading multilateral environment agreements governing chemicals and waste management, in order to protect human health and the environment.

For questions on the Implementation and Compliance Committee, contact:

Juliette Voinov Kohler, Senior Legal Officer and Chief (Officer in Charge) of the Governance Branch, BRS Secretariat, juliette.kohler@un.org

For media enquiries, contact: 

Maria Cristina Cardenas-Fischer, Head of Unit and Senior Policy Advisor, Policy and Strategy Unit, Executive Office, BRS Secretariat, maria-cristina.cardenas@un.org