Regional preparatory meetings for the upcoming meetings of the conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions are taking place in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe and GRULAC regions during March 2023.

The thirteenth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (OEWG-13) took place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 21 to 23 February 2023, as a prelude to the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-16), to be held in Geneva on 1-12 May 2023. 

The Fair on Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) will be held during the 2023 COPs, from 3 to 5 May 2023, at the Geneva International Conference Centre (CICG). The the objective of Fair is to raise awareness on the urgency to accelerate action to meet the upcoming 2025 and 2028 PCB deadlines under the Stockholm Convention, as well as, to raise awareness on other deadlines under the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions. The deadline for booking a booth is 01 March 2023.

The objective of this online briefing is to inform Parties to the Basel and Rotterdam Conventions, observers and other stakeholders on the outcomes of the fifteenth meeting of the Basel Convention Implementation and Compliance Committee (BC ICC-15) and the first meeting of the Rotterdam Convention’s Compliance Committee (RC CC-1).

All side events will be held during lunch breaks and in the evenings. The deadline for applications is 1 March 2023.

Participants were invited to share anecdotes of cherished electric and electronic devices they should have disposed of in an environmentally sound manner.

Enforced by the Basel Convention and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, the DEMETER operations have been taking place since 2009, with the aim of tackling transboundary trafficking in waste and ozone depleting substances, through the enhanced cooperation between customs and environmental authorities.

Convened in Geneva, Switzerland, from 5 to 7 December 2022, the hybrid meeting marked the completion of a set of revised recommendations pertaining to the review of hazardous wastes under the Basel Convention.

The Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions launches the Plastic Waste on the Peak storymap to raise awareness of plastic pollution in remote and mountainous areas.

The #PlasticIsForever social media challenge has been launched on Tik Tok. Share your score with us to win a hard copy of the Plastic is Forever photography book.

Representatives from 120 countries, industry and civil society meet under the Basel Convention’s Plastic Waste Partnership in Uruguay, ahead of the inaugural session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution.

The meeting took place in Geneva, Switzerland, on 11 October 2022.

On the occasion of the 3rd Plastic Waste Partnership meeting in Uruguay, a digital version of a photography book has been launched, featuring the finalist entries of the Plastic is Forever competition.

Held in Lagos, Nigeria, the workshop marked the first face-to-face event coorganised by the BRS Secretariat and UNODC on national legal frameworks, illegal traffic and trade, and crimes that affect the environment.

Basel Convention Parties are to submit their annual national reports by 31 December 2022, using the electronic reporting system.

Invitation letters to the 2023 BRS COPs have been sent out to Parties.

The meeting will be held in Geneva, Switzerland from 14 to 17 November 2022, and it will address a number of specific submissions to support Basel Convention Parties.

On 23 November 2022, during the 3rd Plastic Waste Partnership meeting, the Partnership will host a webinar to provide insights from the field about its pilot projects.

The event was co-organised by the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The annual joint meeting of the Regional Centres under the Basel and the Stockholm Conventions is taking place from 7 to 9 November 2022.

The top three stories will be announced in December 2022 and will be adapted into animated videos premiering during the 2023 Meetings of the Conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (2023 BRS COPs), which will take place in Geneva, Switzerland, in May 2023.

The Basel Convention has teamed up with the World Health Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme for a webinar addressing lead exposure. The event will take place on 25 October 2022, on the margins of the 10th International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week.

The BRS Conventions address the importance of sustainably managing chemicals and wastes to combat climate change.