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The Basel Convention Partnerships Programme

The Basel Convention Partnerships Programme

The Basel Convention Partnerships Programme

Public-private partnerships are voluntary and creative mechanisms that support the work of the Convention by offering forums for dialogue and practical action by all stakeholders. They are comprised of all levels of government, industry and business sectors, nongovernmental organizations, academia and other international institutions and bodies, for open and frank dialogue in action.

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Other Partnerships

The Secretariat is following closely the development of public and private partnerships on hazardous waste related issues and seeks to expand its involvement in partnerships led by other international organizations and initiatives with the aim of promoting the guidelines and tools developed under the Basel Convention, so as to raise awareness and increase the visibility of the Convention and to mobilize resources for its implementation.

The Secretariat has joined the following partnerships and initiatives to further strengthen cooperation with respect to hazardous waste related issues:

Mercury Partnership

 The overall goal of the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership is to protect human health and the global environment from the release of mercury and its compounds by minimizing and, where feasible, ultimately eliminating global, anthropogenic mercury releases to air, water and land. The Partnership currently has eight identified partnership areas that are reflective of the major source categories.

 The Secretariat contributes to the Partnership activities by providing information and expertise to the Advisory Group and three partnership areas, i.e. mercury waste management; mercury supply and storage; and mercury reduction in products.

PCB Elimination Network (PEN)

 Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are obliged to eliminate equipment and oils containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from use by 2025 and bring these under environmentally sound waste management by 2028. The objective of the PEN is to promote and encourage the environmentally sound management of PCBs with a view to attaining the goals of the Stockholm Convention. Several thematic groups were established to facilitate information exchange, foster cooperation and collaboration between members and promote environmentally sound management practices and destruction techniques.

 The PEN is administered by UNEP DTIE Chemicals Branch. The Secretariat is a member of the Advisory Committee that meets annually to review the activities undertaken by the PEN and to establish the direction for future work of the Partnership.

UNEP Global Partnership on Waste Management (GPWM)

 The GPWM is an open-ended, voluntary and collaborative relationship between various international stakeholders, in which all participants agree to work together to coordinate activities on waste management in a systematic way. The Partnership supports the development of work plans to facilitate the implementation of integrated waste management at national and local levels to overcome environmental, public health, social and economic issues inflicted by waste and its impact.

 UNEP launched the GPWM in 2010. The UNEP International Environmental Technology Center (IETC) hosts the secretariat of the GPWM. Under this platform, the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions is member of the partnership steering committee and focuses on e-waste related issues.

Solving the E-Waste Problem Initiative (StEP)

The aim of the partnership is to develop strategies to solve the e-waste problem. The initiative is coordinated by the United Nations University (UNU). Together with members from industry, governments, international organizations, NGOs and the science sector, the initiative develops and facilitates approaches towards the sustainable handling of e-waste. In five Task Forces, feasible, just and environmentally safe solutions for the e-waste problem are developed through analysis, planning and pilot projects.

The Secretariat cooperates with StEP to coordinate activities and to make use of synergies with the Partnership for Action on Computing Equipment (PACE) under the Basel Convention. The Secretariat signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UNU in September 2008 to strengthen cooperation on policy and projects related to end-of-life computing equipment.

Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development

The Partnership on Measuring Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Development is a multi-stakeholder initiative to build capacity for the collection and dissemination of internationally comparable ICT statistics. Its overall goal is to help produce more and better statistical information in the area of ICTs, which will allow governments and other stakeholders to make informed policy decisions for using ICTs as a tool for social and economic development. Members of the partnership are ITU, UNCTAD, World Bank, UNESCO, Eurostat, OECD, UN-ECLAC, UN-DESA and others.

The Secretariat joined the Partnership in July 2012 and leads a Task Group on Measuring E-waste. The objective of the Task Group is to develop a framework for monitoring e-waste based on internationally defined indicators.