References Basel Convention

Background The Basel Convention

Basel Convention (Caribbean) Regional Centre

Requested a Basel Convention centre

Members of the Basel Convention Open ended Working Group and the Secretariat of the Basel Convention could provide relevant expertise.

(c) Basel Convention Coordinating Centre (BCCC) Uruguay

The Basel Convention Secretariat manages the Fund.

Basel Convention regional centres for training and technical transfer

For example, the Basel Convention Technical Cooperation Trust Fund, which relies on voluntary contributions, has been able to provide only limited and generally inadequate resources, leading Basel Convention parties to begin the process of determining the feasibility of appropriate and predictable financial mechanisms for the Basel Convention.

Paragraph 1 of Article 14 of the Basel Convention states that

Stand Alone Mechanism with Voluntary Contributions The Basel Convention Technical Cooperation Trust Fund

Moreover, because effective implementation of the Rotterdam Convention may further the aim of waste minimization under the Basel Convention, Rotterdam related benefits could likely be achieved at a modest incremental cost if the Basel Convention had adequate provisions for project finance.

United Nations Environment Programme, Secretariat of the Basel Convention, Origins of the Convention (undated), http www.basel.int pub basics.html top.

Basel Convention website, Origins of the Convention (undated), at http www.basel.int pub basics.html top (last viewed April 15, 2005).

The representative of the Basel Convention Secretariat made a brief presentation on the issue.

This is particularly emphasized for linkages to the regional centres of the Basel Convention.

The response to the Basel Convention request would be submitted to the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention for consideration at its third meeting and forwarded to the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention.

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

Since 1999, the Basel Convention has been shifting its emphasis to regional and national implementation.

Analysis of the implications for the Stockholm Convention of the guidelines on persistent organic pollutant wastes adopted under the Basel Convention

The Basel Convention COP at its last session considered a report prepared by the Expanded Bureau and the OEWG entitled, Mobilizing resources for a cleaner future implementing the Basel Convention. In discussing the Technical Cooperation Trust Fund, the report concluded

b. Cooperate with the Open ended Working Group of the Basel Convention for matters of common concern

There is no direct mechanism under the Basel Convention to fund the operations of these regional centres.

International outrage over this practice led to the negotiation and adoption in 1989 of the Basel Convention.

Sustainable Financing, Decision VII 40, Basel Convention COP 7 Report, UNEP CHW.7 33, at 78 (2005).

Response to the request by the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention at its seventh meeting

Mobilizing Resources for a Cleaner Future Implementing the Basel Convention, UNEP CHW.7 INF 8, at 15 (2004).

(f) To encourage Parties to the Stockholm Convention to participate actively in the ongoing work under the Basel Convention mentioned in paragraphs (d) and (e) and

The Basel Secretariat would examine the possibility of holding such a meeting in conjunction with the meeting of the Open ended Working Group of the Basel Convention, to be held in early April 2006.

C. Response to the request by the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention at its seventh meeting

Requests the secretariat of the Rotterdam Convention to join this work by contributing to the study on cooperation and synergies with the Basel and Stockholm convention secretariats

Rule 26, paragraph 6, of the rules of procedure of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention provides

Accordingly, experts considered how best to respond to the invitation from the Basel Convention within the current meeting and intersessionally.

Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste and Their Disposal, 22 March 1989, http www.basel.int text documents.html.

Cement kiln co incineration is the term used in the Basel Convention, while Annex C, part II (b) of the Stockholm Convention refers to cement kilns firing hazardous waste .

The Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants adopted Resolution 5 on issues related to the Basel Convention, in paragraph 3 of which it invited

Better than Basel

Welcomes also the recommendation of the Open Ended Working Group of the Basel Convention made at its fourth session requesting the secretariat of the Basel Convention to cooperate with the secretariats of the Stockholm and Rotterdam conventions in preparation of the study on cooperation and synergies referred to in paragraph 2 above

The intergovernmental institution type of agreement provides oversight for a BCRC through a general assembly composed of Parties to the Convention in the region and the Secretariat of the Basel Convention.

The general technical guidelines developed under the Basel Convention address matters related to all three of the outstanding definitional issues raised in paragraph 2 of Article 6 of the Stockholm Convention.

Thus, experiences under the Basel Convention may provide an indication of how the Rotterdam special voluntary trust fund might be expected to perform.

Mobilizing Resources for a Cleaner Future Implementing the Basel Convention, UNEP CHW.7 INF 8 (2004), http www.basel.int meetings cop cop7 docs i08e.pdf.

During the ensuing discussion, it was noted that the Stockholm Convention was a recent convention which focused on persistent organic pollutants whereas the Basel Convention was long established and had extensive experience in the area of waste management.

Thus, the experiences under the Basel Convention may provide an indication of how the Rotterdam special voluntary trust fund might be expected to perform.

Indeed, the Montreal Protocol is frequently considered more akin to the Climate Convention than to other chemicals agreements like the Basel or Stockholm Conventions.