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

Input by the President of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal

Instruction

The High Level Political Forum (HLPF) under the auspices of the General Assembly (“SDG Summit”) resulted in the adoption of a Political Declaration that proclaimed a decade for action and delivery for sustainable development and outlined ten crosscutting areas for accelerated action for the achievement of the SDGs. The General Assembly decided that the theme for the 2021 session of the HLPF and the Economic and Social Council will be “ Building back better from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ”.

The HLPF in 2022 will review progress toward SDGs 4 on quality education, 5 on gender equality, 14 on life below water, 15 on life on land, and 17 on partnerships for the Goals. The Forum will take into account the different and particular impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic across these SDGs and the integrated, indivisible and interlinked nature of the Goals.

Input from the President of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention could showcase the views, findings, research, data and policy recommendations on specific aspects of an SDG-driven response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the SDGs under review.

Introduction

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal was adopted on 22 March 1989 by the Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Basel, Switzerland, and entered into force in 1992. As at February 2022, it has 189 Parties and thus its coverage is global. The overarching objective of the Basel Convention is to protect human health and the environment against the adverse effects that may result from the generation and management of hazardous and other wastes. Its scope of application covers a wide range of wastes defined as “hazardous wastes” based on their origin and/or composition and their characteristics or so defined by domestic legislation and notified to the Secretariat, as well as wastes defined as “other wastes” requiring special consideration - household waste and incinerator ash, certain plastic wastes.

The provisions of the Convention center around the following principal aims:

• the reduction of generation of hazardous and other wastes and the promotion of their environmentally sound management, wherever the place of disposal

• the restriction of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and other wastes to a minimum except where it is perceived to be in accordance with the principles of environmentally sound management; and

• a control system applying where transboundary movements are permissible.

The Basel Convention also requires cooperation between Parties, ranging from exchange of information on issues relevant to the implementation of the Convention to technical assistance, particularly to developing countries (Articles 10 and 13). The Secretariat is required to facilitate and support Parties, including acting as a clearing-house (Article 16).

The Convention also provides for the establishment of regional or sub-regional centres for training and technology transfer regarding the management of hazardous wastes and other wastes and the minimization of their generation to cater to the specific needs of different regions and subregions (Article 14).

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