1. Negotiations

Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal

The 1989 Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal addresses concerns over the management, disposal, and transboundary movements of hazardous wastes produced worldwide. The guiding principles of the Convention are: the generation and transboundary movements of hazardous wastes should be reduced to a minimum; and hazardous wastes should be managed in an environmentally sound manner, treated, disposed of as close as possible to the source of generation, and minimized at the source.

The Basel Convention was adopted in 1989 and entered into force on 5 May 1992. It was negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in response to public outcry following the discovery of toxic dumps in developing countries, especially in Africa, which contained hazardous waste imported from industrialized countries.

Events

Filter by:

Showing 1 - 10 of 21 results

14th Meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Basel Convention

To prepare for the next meeting of the Conference of the Parties, delegates grappled with challenges in regulating the movement of transboundary waste. This requires a common understanding of what counts as waste as definitions continue to change as technology advances.
Event 25 June 2024 - 28 June 2024

2023 Conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions (BRS COPs)

Beyond addressing resource mobilization and the illegal traffic of hazardous chemicals and wastes, delegates tried to effectiveness challenges under the Rotterdam Convention, listed new persistent organic pollutants and adopted a compliance mechanism under the Stockholm Convention, and tackled guidelines on different categories of hazardous wastes under the Basel Convention.
Conference of the Parties (COP) 1 May 2023 - 12 May 2023

13th Meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Basel Convention

Delegates had three days to address the challenges of updating the Basel Convention and its associated tools on issues including e-waste, plastic wastes, and modernizing the prior informed consent (PIC) procedure, while working to ensure the Convention is functioning effectively given the shifting landscape of chemicals and waste policy.
Event 21 February 2023 - 23 February 2023

Face-to-Face Meetings of the Conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (BRS COPs)

The Basel Convention flexed its institutional muscle, while the Rotterdam Convention managed to add just two of the seven chemicals proposed to its prior informed consent procedure. The Stockholm Convention continued to list new chemicals, but it now faces the downstream consequences of that success: new chemicals bring added implementation challenges.
Conference of the Parties (COP) 6 June 2022 - 17 June 2022

11th Meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (OEWG11)

Delegates adopted decisions on practical manuals and guidance on environmentally sound management; technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management (ESM) of wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with persistent organic pollutants (POPs); technical guidelines on transboundary movements of electric and electronic wastes (e-waste) and used electrical and electronic equipment; and more
Event 3 September 2018 - 6 September 2018