All activities

On the occasion of the second International E-waste Day, read what Parties to the Basel Convention are doing to address this growing global problem
A public/private partnership, technical guidelines on environmentally sound management, and a massive open online course are amongst the measures tackling e-waste, the world’s fastest growing hazardous waste stream.

On the occasion of the second International E-waste Day, read what Parties to the Basel Convention are doing to address this growing global problem

On the occasion of the second International E-waste Day, read what Parties to the Basel Convention are doing to address this growing global problem

 

International partnership of enforcement experts push forward on preventing illegal traffic of waste
The Basel Convention ENFORCE partnership met in Geneva from 30 September to 1 October, thanks to funding support from Norway.

International partnership of enforcement experts push forward on preventing illegal traffic of waste

International partnership of enforcement experts push forward on preventing illegal traffic of waste

The Environmental Network for Optimizing Regulatory Compliance on Illegal Traffic (ENFORCE) staged its 11th Meeting in Geneva from 30 September to 1 October, 2019, with funding support kindly provided by the Government of Norway.

As well as Basel Convention Parties representing their regions, the partnership includes representatives from of the Basel Convention Regional Centres, and organizations with a specific mandate to deliver implementation and enforcement capacity-building activities for preventing and combating illegal traffic of hazardous wastes and other wastes under the Basel Convention, such as UNEP, IMPEL, the International Criminal Police Organisation – INTERPOL - and the World Customs Organisation.

Members and observers exchanged information on their activities which will be included in the roadmap of activities for 2019-2020. ENFORCE also agreed to continue collecting training tools developed by its members as well as under the framework of the Basel Convention which will be made available through an online library on the Basel Convention website later this year.

Click here to read more information on the meeting and on ENFORCE.

UN Secretary General calls for increased investment in waste management
With waste the theme of this year’s World Habitat Day, Antonio Guterres highlights the role of frontier technologies to transform waste into wealth, and stresses the need to reduce waste in the first place.

UN Secretary General calls for increased investment in waste management

UN Secretary General calls for increased investment in waste management
 
BRS Executive Secretary urges strong cooperation between chemicals and waste and regional seas conventions
With waste the theme of this year’s World Habitat Day, Antonio Guterres highlights the role of frontier technologies to transform waste into wealth, and stresses the need to reduce waste in the first place.

BRS Executive Secretary urges strong cooperation between chemicals and waste and regional seas conventions

BRS Executive Secretary urges strong cooperation between chemicals and waste and regional seas conventions
 
Parties invited to provide information to improve Basel Convention implementation
The final evaluation of the Convention’s Strategic Framework for implementation for 2012-2021 is underway, and Parties are asked to submit information by 31 January 2020.

Parties invited to provide information to improve Basel Convention implementation

Parties invited to provide information to improve Basel Convention implementation
 
E-waste: Deadline approaching for the Basel Convention’s follow-up partnership to PACE
The BRS Secretariat is still accepting applications for membership to the follow-up partnership to the Partnership for Action on Computing Equipment (PACE), and also inviting comments on the new work programme and terms of reference, with deadline 30 September 2019.

E-waste: Deadline approaching for the Basel Convention’s follow-up partnership to PACE

E-waste: Deadline approaching for the Basel Convention’s follow-up partnership to PACE
 
New plastic waste project underway in Bangladesh
Building on the recent Basel Convention plastic waste amendment, a new Norwegian-funded initiative has begun, with inception meetings in Dhaka for experts and stakeholders, 18 to 19 September, 2019.

New plastic waste project underway in Bangladesh

New plastic waste project underway in Bangladesh
 
More than 100 participants attend regional meeting to boost implementation of the Basel and Rotterdam conventions in Africa
Dakar, Senegal, hosts a capacity-building workshop for governments and other stakeholders working towards the sound management of chemicals and waste, including plastic waste. Funding support kindly provided by the Government of France.

More than 100 participants attend regional meeting to boost implementation of the Basel and Rotterdam conventions in Africa

More than 100 participants attend regional meeting to boost implementation of the Basel and Rotterdam conventions in Africa
 
Plastic waste and the oceans: new guest blog by BRS Executive Secretary for the World Ocean Initiative
Read Rolph Payet’s guest blog on plastic waste and the oceans and how the Basel Convention’s Plastic Waste Amendment can contribute to tackling the problem.

Plastic waste and the oceans: new guest blog by BRS Executive Secretary for the World Ocean Initiative

Plastic waste and the oceans: new guest blog by BRS Executive Secretary for the World Ocean Initiative

More than 300m tonnes of plastics are produced every year and the majority is not recycled. This leaves us with colossal amounts of plastic waste. Some of this is disposed of properly, but in many regions plastic waste is dumped on land and in rivers, eventually finding its way to our oceans”. So began the BRS Executive Secretary Rolph Payet in a Guest Blog on plastic waste, oceans and the Basel Convention’s 2019 Plastic Waste Amendment for The Economist’s World Ocean Initiative, published 13 September 2019.

Click here to read the article.

Click here for more info on The Economist’s World Ocean Initiative.

Read the Basel Convention press release on the entry into force of the Ban Amendment
Entry into force of amendment to UN treaty boosts efforts to prevent waste dumping.

Read the Basel Convention press release on the entry into force of the Ban Amendment

Read the Basel Convention press release on the entry into force of the Ban Amendment

Date: 13 September 2019 

Momentum and political will continues to grow for tackling the world’s ever-intensifying waste problem, with this week celebrating the threshold for the Basel Convention1’s Ban Amendment to enter into force being reached. The Ban Amendment prohibits the export of hazardous waste from developed countries (OECD, EU member states, Liechtenstein) to developing countries.

The Ban Amendment will enter into force on 5 December 2019 following the recent ratification by Croatia. At the time of its adoption in 1995, some felt the amendment was a way to address challenges faced by developing countries and countries with economies in transition to control imports of hazardous and other wastes that they were unable to manage in an environmentally sound manner.

The spirit of the Ban Amendment has been very much alive for many years, in spite of the time elapsed between its adoption and entry into force. Many developed country Parties to the Convention have already made use of their prerogative to ban the export of hazardous wastes, while many developing countries also made use of their prerogative to ban the import of hazardous wastes.

The entry into force of the Ban Amendment has significant political weight, acting as a flagship of international efforts to ensure that those countries with the capacity to manage their hazardous wastes in an environmentally sound manner take responsibility for them, while still allowing Parties wishing to receive wastes required as raw materials for recycling or recovery industries.

International efforts to reach the threshold for entry into force – 66 of the 87 Parties as at 22 September 1995 – included a multi-year country-led initiative by Indonesia and Switzerland launched in 2011, assistance by the Basel Convention Secretariat to individual Parties facing difficulties in ratifying the Ban Amendment, as well as awareness-raising activities by many other stakeholders.

Reflecting on these latest developments, the Executive Secretary of the Basel Convention, Rolph Payet, said today that “public awareness of the scale and impact of our waste problem has risen enormously in recent years and Parties are stepping up their efforts to collectively tackle this, both at home through innovative measures and also globally through international, multilateral action. The Basel Convention has continually evolved to reflect these new challenges and the entry into force of the Ban Amendment is another milestone towards minimising risks from the adverse effects of transboundary movements of hazardous waste. Quite simply, the world will be a safer, healthier place from now on.”

NOTES for EDITORS:

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal is the most comprehensive international environment on hazardous and other wastes and is almost universal, with 187 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 wastes defined as hazardous based on their origin and/or composition and characteristics, as well as two types of waste defined as “other wastes”, namely household waste and incinerator ash. For more info see www.basel.int

The Ban Amendment was adopted by decision III/1 at the third meeting of the Conference of the Parties in 1995. It added a new preambular paragraph, an additional paragraph to Article 4 and a new Annex VII to the Convention. The Ban Amendment provides for the prohibition by Parties listed in Annex VII (members of the EU, OECD and Liechtenstein) of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes to States not in Annex VII. For more information: https://www.basel.int/Implementation/LegalMatters/BanAmendment/Overview/tabid/1484/Default.aspx

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, in order to protect human health and the environment. See www.brsmeas.org for more info and follow the @brsmeas twitter feed for daily news.

Media enquiries, interviews, more information, contact:

Charlie Avis
Public Information Officer, BRS Secretariat
Charles.avis@brsmeas.org
Tel: +41-79-7304495

Substantive questions related to the Ban Amendment, contact:

Yvonne Ewang-Sanvincenti
Legal Officer, BRS Secretariat
yvonne.ewang@brsmeas.org
Tel.: +41-22-9178112


1 The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal was adopted in 1989, entered into force in 1992, and as of today has 187 Parties. Its overarching goal is the protection of human health and the environment against the adverse effects of hazardous wastes.

Pacific countries welcome the Basel Convention’s Plastic Waste Amendment
At the recent regional High-Level Minister’s Talanoa in Apia, Samoa, Pacific countries welcomed the recent amendments to the Convention and urged action on implementing the new controls.

Pacific countries welcome the Basel Convention’s Plastic Waste Amendment

Pacific countries welcome the Basel Convention’s Plastic Waste Amendment
 
Basel Convention’s Ban Amendment to enter-into-force
With Croatia’s recent ratification of the @UN Basel Convention’s Ban Amendment, the threshold has now been reached, strengthening the prohibition of unwanted shipments of hazardous waste from developed to developing countries. Entry-into-force is 5 December 2019. Official Press Release to follow.

Basel Convention’s Ban Amendment to enter-into-force

Basel Convention’s Ban Amendment to enter-into-force
 
Household waste challenge takes centre stage as Basel Convention stakeholders meet in Trinidad
The second meeting of the Household Waste Partnership takes place in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, 4 to 6 September.

Household waste challenge takes centre stage as Basel Convention stakeholders meet in Trinidad

Household waste challenge takes centre stage as Basel Convention stakeholders meet in Trinidad
 
Meeting report from the recent Basel Convention COP now available
The meeting report of the recent COP-14 is now accessible (Advance English version).

Meeting report from the recent Basel Convention COP now available

Meeting report from the recent Basel Convention COP now available
 
Follow-up to recent Basel Convention COP decisions for sound management of wastes, including actions to address plastic waste
Parties and observers are kindly invited to respond to requests from the recent COP-14, for follow-up to the decisions taken by Parties in Geneva, in May.

Follow-up to recent Basel Convention COP decisions for sound management of wastes, including actions to address plastic waste

Follow-up to recent Basel Convention COP decisions for sound management of wastes, including actions to address plastic waste
 
Funding support available for sound management of chemicals and waste
The French government’s new fund supports activities in support of the global chemicals conventions in developing countries, and has a deadline for project proposals of 4 October 2019.

Funding support available for sound management of chemicals and waste

Funding support available for sound management of chemicals and waste
 
Behind the Scenes at the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions 2019 COPs - video
Watch the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions “Behind the Scenes” video for a better understanding of how the Triple COPs work.

Behind the Scenes at the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions 2019 COPs - video

Behind the Scenes at the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions 2019 COPs - video
 
7 million premature deaths per year from visible and invisible air pollution
On the occasion of World Environment Day, read the BRS Press Release highlighting the need to make the invisible, visible to beat air pollution.

7 million premature deaths per year from visible and invisible air pollution

7 million premature deaths per year from visible and invisible air pollution
 
Highlights of the 2019 BRS COPs captured on video
Watch key parts of the Triple COPs, including the moment Parties decided, by consensus, to amend the Basel Convention to tackle plastic wastes.

Highlights of the 2019 BRS COPs captured on video

Highlights of the 2019 BRS COPs captured on video
 
Global experts on marine litter meet at BRS Secretariat in Geneva
First plastics meeting since the COP decision to amend the Basel Convention sees GESAMP experts assess risks associated with plastics in the marine environment.

Global experts on marine litter meet at BRS Secretariat in Geneva

Global experts on marine litter meet at BRS Secretariat in Geneva
 
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