Waste Management and Pollution Control
In the ongoing struggle to manage hazardous and radioactive waste - stronger ties between the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the Basel Convention Regional Centre in Beijing China have been forged, bringing greater benefits to the Pacific island region.
The Basel Convention is an international agreement that addresses the transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal. This has been further adapted for the Pacific island region through the Waigani Convention which focuses on the Pacific region and includes a ban on the importation of radioactive waste.
In June this month, several key regional committee meetings for the Basel and Waigani Convention were held at the Pacific Regional Centre for the Convention at SPREP in Apia Samoa. These included the Fourth Meeting of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee and the Third Meeting of the Steering Committee of the Pacific Regional Center for training and technology transfer for the joint implementation of the Basel and Waigani Conventions at SPREP headquarters.
The two meetings were attended by the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. For the first time, representatives from the Basel Convention Regional Centre in Bejing, China were also in attendance as observers.
"We were really pleased to host our colleagues from China, as this was an indication of the strong support being provided by the China Basel centre to help improve the implementation of the hazardous waste conventions in the Pacific region," said Dr. David Haynes, Director of the Pacific Basel Centre and of the Waste Management and Pollution Control Division at SPREP.
The meetings deliberated on a number of major issues, including plans to increase effectiveness in implementing the Waigani Convention across the region via approval of the 2014 – 2015 Business Plan for the Pacific Regional Centre.
"The Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee and the Steering Committee meetings for the Pacific Regional Centre are excellent mechanisms for Pacific islands to highlight their national hazardous waste management priorities and advocate for them to be acted through the Basel and Waigani Conventions".
The outcomes of these committee meetings will be submitted to the Seventh Conference of the Parties to the Waigani Convention in Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands in September, this year.
For more information please contact: Dr Frank Griffin, SPREP's Hazardous Waste Management Adviser [email protected]
The Basel Convention is an international agreement that addresses the transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal. This has been further adapted for the Pacific island region through the Waigani Convention which focuses on the Pacific region and includes a ban on the importation of radioactive waste.
In June this month, several key regional committee meetings for the Basel and Waigani Convention were held at the Pacific Regional Centre for the Convention at SPREP in Apia Samoa. These included the Fourth Meeting of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee and the Third Meeting of the Steering Committee of the Pacific Regional Center for training and technology transfer for the joint implementation of the Basel and Waigani Conventions at SPREP headquarters.
Above: Professor Jinhui Li and Ms. Nana Zhao – Basel Convention Regional Centre, Bejing China
The two meetings were attended by the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. For the first time, representatives from the Basel Convention Regional Centre in Bejing, China were also in attendance as observers.
"We were really pleased to host our colleagues from China, as this was an indication of the strong support being provided by the China Basel centre to help improve the implementation of the hazardous waste conventions in the Pacific region," said Dr. David Haynes, Director of the Pacific Basel Centre and of the Waste Management and Pollution Control Division at SPREP.
The meetings deliberated on a number of major issues, including plans to increase effectiveness in implementing the Waigani Convention across the region via approval of the 2014 – 2015 Business Plan for the Pacific Regional Centre.
Above: Group photo of meeting participants
"The Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee and the Steering Committee meetings for the Pacific Regional Centre are excellent mechanisms for Pacific islands to highlight their national hazardous waste management priorities and advocate for them to be acted through the Basel and Waigani Conventions".
The outcomes of these committee meetings will be submitted to the Seventh Conference of the Parties to the Waigani Convention in Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands in September, this year.
For more information please contact: Dr Frank Griffin, SPREP's Hazardous Waste Management Adviser [email protected]