News Features

 

The latest BRS Newsletter is now online: all the news for a Clean Planet, Healthy People
A must-read for all those interested in, or working towards, the sound management of chemicals and waste.

The latest BRS Newsletter is now online: all the news for a Clean Planet, Healthy People

The latest BRS Newsletter is now online: all the news for a Clean Planet, Healthy People
Basel Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions

BRS NEWSLETTER

Assisting parties to protect human health and the environment

February 2019 - No. 24

Welcome

Dear Readers,

This edition has key information about the forthcoming 2019 Triple COPs – the meetings of the conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm conventions – which run from 29 April to 10 May in Geneva. Click below for an overview of what to expect from the COPs, including the Information Fair, how to view the background documents, and details of the 4 regional preparatory meetings throughout March, plus news on plastic waste and a postcard from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. #Detox!

 

News
Plastic waste again in the spotlight as Geneva hosts High Level Dialogue on 14 February

Plastic waste again in the spotlight as Geneva hosts High Level Dialogue on 14 February

BRS Secretariat joins forces with Geneva Environment Network and the governments of France, Gabon & Norway to further explore options for tackling marine litter.

Outcomes online of the 14th meeting of the Chemical Review Committee

Outcomes online of the 14th meeting of the Chemical Review Committee

The final version of the CRC-14 meeting report is now available in all United Nations languages.

PIC Circular XLVIII now available

PIC Circular XLVIII now available

The latest version of the Rotterdam Convention PIC Circular is now available online.

EU transmits updated plan to help beat pollution from toxic chemicals

EU transmits updated plan to help beat pollution from toxic chemicals

To rid the world of POPs, the EU has transmitted a new plan for implementing the Stockholm Convention.

Ireland transmits updated plan to help beat pollution from toxic chemicals

Ireland transmits updated plan to help beat pollution from toxic chemicals

To ride the world of POPs, Ireland has transmitted a new national plan for implementing the Stockholm Convention.

First batch of pre-session documents, including budget documents for consideration by the COPs, now online

First batch of pre-session documents, including budget documents for consideration by the COPs, now online

Pre-session documents for the 2019 COPs, including the proposed programmes of work and budgets for the conventions for 2020-2021, are now available.

Chemicals and waste “Information Fair” at the 2019 BRS Triple COPs

Chemicals and waste “Information Fair” at the 2019 BRS Triple COPs

Apply for space at the Information Fair, 2 to 4 May, to showcase products, processes or partnerships which improve implementation of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions.

BRS Secretariat marks International Day of Women & Girls in Science

BRS Secretariat marks International Day of Women & Girls in Science

Meet the BRS Science & Technical Assistance Branch, which has female staff from Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, & Latin America, all working for a Clean Planet & Healthy People.

 

Technical Assistance
Technical Assistance

Upcoming webinars

 

Upcoming workshops

 

Forthcoming meeting
Four joint regional meetings to help Parties prepare for the 2019 Triple COPs

Four joint regional meetings to help Parties prepare for the 2019 Triple COPs

Regional preparatory meetings for the 2019 COPs will be held throughout March 2019, jointly with meetings on the Minamata Convention & SAICM. Invitation letters for the meetings have been sent out.

 

Emerging issues
David Ogden: Here come the COPs: Concrete steps towards a clean planet and healthy people

David Ogden: Here come the COPs: Concrete steps towards a clean planet and healthy people

From 29 April to 10 May this year, in Geneva, the conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions will meet back-to-back for the fourth time. These “Triple COPs” meet every two years to set the agenda and take decisions with the aim to protect human health and the environment from the harmful effects of chemicals and waste. This year an Information Fair will be staged on the sidelines, highlighting and promoting the exchange of information as a vehicle for the implementation of the three conventions, from 2 to 4 May.

 

Synergies in the spotlight
As preparation for the 2019 Triple COPs, the outcomes of the Joint Bureaux meeting are now online

As preparation for the 2019 Triple COPs, the outcomes of the Joint Bureaux meeting are now online

The report of the joint meeting of the COPs bureaux, held in Geneva from 15 to 16 November 2018, is now available online.

 

Postcard from Bishkek
Regional workshop in Kyrgyzstan builds government capacities for implementing Rotterdam Convention

Regional workshop in Kyrgyzstan builds government capacities for implementing Rotterdam Convention

Officials from 10 countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus were trained during an FAO workshop in Bishkek, 19 to 23 November.

 

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UN agencies in Geneva join forces to reduce, re-use, recycle & refuse
BRS Secretariat, UN Environment and the UN Office at Geneva urge international Geneva to minimize single-use plastics.

UN agencies in Geneva join forces to reduce, re-use, recycle & refuse

UN agencies in Geneva join forces to reduce, re-use, recycle & refuse

Joint appeal from the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions, UN Environment, and United Nations Office at Geneva to minimise the use of single-use plastics across International Geneva.

2019 is an important year for the international community as it works together to tackle marine plastic pollution. The sound management of chemicals and waste, including plastic waste, is on the agenda of the forthcoming 4th UN Environment Assembly (Nairobi, 11-15 March; and the BRS Triple COPs (Geneva, 29 April-10 May).

Marine plastic pollution is one of the most visible and pressing environmental concerns of our time. With an estimated 100 million tonnes of plastic in our seas, 80-90% of which has come from land-based sources[1], the high public profile of this issue is understandable. Reducing waste generation at source, and improving waste management thereafter, would go a long way towards solving this problem.

Reflecting that importance and urgency, the BRS Secretariat, led by Executive Secretary Rolph Payet, has joined forces with UN Environment, and the UN Office in Geneva, in encouraging all UN entities and partner organisations across International Geneva to collectively minimise single-use plastics within UN premises, at meetings, and at events organised by the UN in Geneva.

Simple steps such as re-using coffee cups, carrying a re-useable water bottle, and ordering takeaway food in a re-useable packaging container can significantly lower the accumulation of plastics from UN facilities.

The BRS Secretariat is proud that its meetings are already paperless and carbon-neutral. This latest initiative (see letter as pdf) will further help to make the meetings and operations of the Secretariat more sustainable, in line with pan-UN efforts under the “Greening the Blue” initiative and in a spirit of not just “talking the talk” but also “walking the walk”.

For more information on how the BRS Secretariat is working on tackling marine plastic litter, contact BRS Programme Officer Kei Ohno Woodall by email on: kei.ohno-woodall@brsmeas.org

For more details on how the Basel Convention contributes to efforts for tackling marine plastic litter, see: https://www.brsmeas.org/?tabid=4332&blogId=5169

For more details on the UN “Greening the Blue” initiative, see: www.greeningtheblue.org  


[1] Data from “Marine litter plastics and microplastics and their toxic chemicals components: the need for urgent preventive measures” by Frederic Gallo et. al. in Environmental Sciences Europe 2018; 30(1): 13. Online at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5918521/

As preparation for the 2019 Triple COPs, the outcomes of the Joint Bureaux meeting are now online
The report of the joint meeting of the COPs bureaux, held in Geneva from 15 to 16 November 2018, is now available online.

As preparation for the 2019 Triple COPs, the outcomes of the Joint Bureaux meeting are now online

As preparation for the 2019 Triple COPs, the outcomes of the Joint Bureaux meeting are now online
 
Plastic waste again in the spotlight as Geneva hosts High Level Dialogue on 14 February
: BRS Secretariat joins forces with Geneva Environment Network and the governments of France, Gabon & Norway to further explore options for tackling marine litter.

Plastic waste again in the spotlight as Geneva hosts High Level Dialogue on 14 February

Plastic waste again in the spotlight as Geneva hosts High Level Dialogue on 14 February
 
BRS Secretariat marks International Day of Women & Girls in Science
Meet the BRS Science & Technical Assistance Branch, which has female staff from Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, & Latin America, all working for a Clean Planet & Healthy People.

BRS Secretariat marks International Day of Women & Girls in Science

BRS Secretariat marks International Day of Women & Girls in Science
 
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