Nairobi
Declaration to Call for Urgent Global Action on
E-wastes
Basel Convention to Elaborate Strategy for Preventing
Repeat of Abidjan Hazardous Waste Disaster
Nairobi, 1 December 2006 – The member governments
of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary
Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal
have agreed to accelerate efforts to reduce the
risks posed to human health and the environment
by the dramatic worldwide growth in electronic
wastes.
Priorities will include launching
pilot projects to establish take-back systems
for used electronic products, strengthening global
collaboration on fighting illegal traffickers
and promoting best practices through new technical
guidelines.
Ministers and heads of delegations
are also expected to issue a declaration calling
for urgent action to address the illegal trade
in e-wastes. They will recognize the need to improve
their national policies, controls and enforcement
efforts, and they will urge industry to pursue
“green design” by phasing out the need for hazardous
components and managing the entire life cycle
of its products.
“Governments need to develop
effective regulatory regimes that empower the
market to respond positively to the challenge
of e-wastes. By partnering with the private sector
and with civil society, they can promote collection
chains that channel obsolete goods back to their
original manufacturers for recovery and recycling,”
said Executive Director Achim Steiner of the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), under whose
auspices the Basel Convention was adopted.
The conference also featured
an in-depth debate during a one-day World Forum
on E-Wastes. Ministers, corporate officers, civil-society
representatives and other participants explored
solutions for advancing the collection, separation,
re-use, refurbishment and recycling of obsolete
electronic products.
Some 20 to 50 million metric
tonnes of e-waste – which includes lead, cadmium,
mercury and other hazardous substances – are generated
worldwide every year as a result of the growing
demand for computers, mobile phones, TVs, radios
and other consumer electronics.
The Nairobi conference has also
condemned the dumping last August of hazardous
wastes in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, which
resulted in deaths, injuries and massive clean-up
costs. It agreed to establish a strategic plan
for strengthening the international community’s
capacity for staging a rapid and effective emergency
response to such crises. It further called upon
governments to offer technical and financial assistance
to enable Côte d’Ivoire to implement its
national emergency plan.
On Wednesday, Ms. Safiatou Ba-N’Daw,
Coordinator of Côte d’Ivoire’s National
Plan for Combating Hazardous Wastes, outlined
for delegates the enormous costs her country faces
in cleaning up the waste and the tonnes of soil
it contaminated. Among the most affected people
are children and workers in the informal sector.
Other costs involve the greater demand for health
services and the need to destroy affected livestock
and food.
“Our country was already under
great financial strain, and this illegal dumping
was the last thing we needed. But we are not here
to point a finger of blame. Our population is
suffering, and we are calling for solidarity from
the international community. We need assistance
to help us address this disaster,” she said.
The meeting also agreed on the
need for better coordination between the International
Maritime Organization’s MARPOL Convention on the
treatment of wastes resulting from the normal
operations of ships, and the Basel Convention
on the transport of waste cargoes.
“We need to work closely with
the IMO to ensure that our respective regimes
compliment one another and produce an airtight
global system for regulating all wastes linked
to shipping. This is equally true in the area
of obsolete ships, where we must continue to work
in partnership with the IMO as well as with the
International Labour Organization,” said Sachiko
Kuwabara-Yamamoto, the Convention’s Executive
Secretary.
Other decisions taken this week
include the adoption of three new sets of such
guidelines for the environmentally sound management
of certain persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
Many of these pollutants are among the most hazardous
substances known to humanity. Guidelines on POPs
wastes and on PCBs were finalized in 2004. The
new guidelines focus specifically on DDT, on other
obsolete pesticides, and on dioxins and furans.
Note to journalists: The Eighth
Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the
Convention was held at the United Nations Office
in Nairobi from 27 November to 1 December 2006.
