Geneva,
16 February 2010 - On 21-26 February 2010,
more than one hundred Environment Ministers,
civil society representatives, experts and
high-profile environmental figures from
around the world will gather in Bali for
the largest global environmental gathering
since Copenhagen.
For the first time,
the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions
parties will convene their independent conferences
of the parties simultaneously, in a novel
effort to strengthen synergies between the
world's three leading chemicals and waste
treaties.
The simultaneous extraordinary meetings
of the Conferences of the Parties to the
Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions
will be held from 22 to 24 February 2010,
on the eve of the opening of the 11th Special
Session of the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) Governing Council/Global
Ministerial Environment Forum, in Bali.
More than 140 governments
are expected to attend the triple-headed
conferences of the Parties.
Change will strengthen
coherence, ease burdens on Governments
In an historic departure
for the international system of environmental
governance, the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam
and Stockholm conventions will consider
adoption of a sweeping set of decisions
in Bali that would link their efforts together,
while respecting their legal autonomy.
"By working in
sync, the conventions are strengthening
the international effort to manage chemicals
and wastes safely. We are freeing up scarce
resources so countries can concentrate on
what is needed most to make the planet a
safe place to live again," said Donald
Cooper, UNEP Co-Executive Secretary of the
Rotterdam Convention and Executive Secretary
of the Stockholm Convention.
Among the actions aimed
at strengthening environmental governance,
UNEP has sought to increase coherence in
decision-making processes at international,
regional and national level.
The synergies process
undertaken by the three global chemicals
and wastes conventions is seen as a demonstration
of how the United Nations objective of
"Delivering as
One" can be furthered in the area of
chemicals and wastes management.
The synergies decisions
build on decisions taken by the three conventions'
Conferences of the Parties in 2008 and 2009,
which called for increased cooperation among
the Convention's Parties through such measures
as integrating national focal points serving
the conventions and, at regional level,
designating regional centres of excellence.
The synergies decisions
also support the life cycle approach to
chemicals and waste management, directing
resources to the national level for a more
coherent implementation of the three conventions.
"A 'life-cycle
approach' to chemicals and waste management
must start before 'the cradle' of production
and extend beyond 'the grave' of disposal,"
said Peter Kenmore, Co-Executive Secretary
of the Rotterdam Convention (FAO).
United Nations Body
Burden Forum will launch global Safe Planet
Campaign
On the closing day of
the simultaneous extraordinary meetings
of the Conferences of the Parties, UNEP
and FAO representatives will launch Safe
Planet: the United Nations Campaign for
Responsibility on Hazardous Chemicals and
Wastes.
This unique and ambitious
campaign for ensuring the safety of the
environment and human health from hazardous
chemicals and wastes will be launched at
a special media event in Bali on 24 February
2010, beginning at 2:15 p.m.
"The Campaign is
designed to show that we must take responsibility
for keeping the planet safe from hazardous
chemicals and wastes. It's our job to advance
solutions in every part of the planet,"
said Katharina Kummer Peiry, Executive Secretary
of the Basel Convention.
The United Nations Body
Burden Forum will introduce a test case
bio-monitoring project for awareness-raising
which is being conducted by the Safe Planet
Campaign. Human bio-monitoring is a method
of assessing the toxic chemical burden increasingly
borne by the life of our planet.
The Forum will feature
pledges by supporters of the Safe Planet
Campaign to have their own chemical body
burdens tested. The results of the tests
would later be made public.
The Safe Planet Campaign
will involve a number of United Nations
agencies, as well as major stakeholder groups.
Jan Kubiš, Executive Secretary of the United
Nations
Economic Commission
for Europe, welcomed the upcoming launch
of the U.N. Campaign for Responsibility
on Hazardous Chemicals and Wastes.
"UNECE cooperates
closely with UNEP on implementation of comprehensive
approaches to chemical pollutants and waste,
in order to deliver as "One United
Nations", Mr. Kubiš said. Additional
Three separate meetings will take place
in Nusa Dua (Bali) over the course of the
week:
Civil Society forum
on 21-22 February: Eleventh Session of the
Global Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum
(GMGSF)
Chemicals and Waste
Ministerial Meeting on 22-24 February:
Simultaneous Extraordinary Meetings of the
Conferences of the Parties to the
Basel, Rotterdam and
Stockholm Conventions
UNEP Ministerial Meeting
on 24-26 February: 11th Special Session
of the Governing Council/Global Ministerial
Environment Forum The gathering will be
attended by Environment Ministers from over
100 countries, Heads of UN agencies including
UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner, scientists
and environmental experts, leading journalists
and media professionals from across the
globe, and business and civil society leaders.
Alongside the ministerial
meetings, UNEP will organize 'Reporting
Green – The Environment as News', a Media
Workshop on 22-23 February.
Further information
on the simultaneous extraordinary conferences
of the Parties to the Basel Convention on
the Control of Transboundary Movements of
Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, the
Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed
Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous
Chemicals and Pesticides in International
Trade and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent
Organic Pollutants can be found on the conferences
website: http://excops.unep.ch/.
For more information please Contact:
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson/Head of
Media, Nairobi
Michael Stanley-Jones, Press Focal Point/Public
Information Officer, Joint Convention Services,
Secretariats of the Basel, Rotterdam and
Stockholm conventions
