11 March 2025, Rarotonga, Cook Islands – The Pacific is preparing to send a strong delegation to the Triple Conferences of the Parties (COP) to the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions, with a two-day preparatory meeting being held in Rarotonga, Cook Islands to solidify the region’s priorities.
Hosted by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in its capacity as the Pacific Regional Centre for the Joint Implementation of the Basel and Waigani Conventions, the preparatory meeting will see representatives from Pacific island countries who are parties to the conventions engage in discussions on their shared priorities and connect the agenda of the Triple COPs to those priorities.
The Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal was adopted in 1989 in response to the discovery of deposits of toxic wastes, in developing countries, that were imported from abroad. The Convention aims to reduce the generation of hazardous waste and promote environmentally-sound management of hazardous waste, restrict the transboundary movements of hazardous waste and put in place a regulatory system applicable to cases where transboundary movements are permissible.
The second Convention is the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior, Informed Consent Procedure for Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade. The Rotterdam Convention was adopted in 1998 to promote shared responsibility and collaborative efforts among Parties in the international trade of certain hazardous chemicals in order to protect human health and the environment from potential harm. The Convention also contributes to the environmentally-sound use of those hazardous chemicals.
Finally, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) is a global treaty to protect from chemicals that remain intact in the environment for long periods and accumulate in the fatty tissues of human and wildlife, resulting in harmful impacts on human health and the environment. Exposure to POPs can result in adverse health effects such as cancer, birth defects, and dysfunctional immune and reproductive systems.
The three conventions together are the world’s most eminent multilateral environmental agreements that provide a global framework for the management of chemicals and hazardous wastes to prevent harm to the environment and human health. Because of the clear synergies between the Conventions, the decision was made to host a joint COP.
Mr. Anthony Talouli, SPREP’s Waste Management and Pollution Control Director, said that the Pacific has been modestly represented at the BRS COPs in past years. There has only been one other Pacific preparatory meeting for the BRS COP, however, SPREP is glad to be able to pick these up again to aid in the coordination and provide technical assistance to countries as they prepare for the COPs.
“It’s not an easy feat to go to a COP, let alone three COPs, and so I encourage you all to actively participate and engage over the next two days because the more we do here, the more well prepared we will be when it comes time to attend the BRS COP,” Mr. Talouli stated.
He also acknowledged those that had come before him, who had taken on the work of preparing the Pacific to effectively engage in the Triple COPs, including SPREP’s former Hazardous Waste Management Advisers, Mr. Joshua Sam and Mr. Frank Griffin.
Over the next two days, the meeting will cover in detail the agendas of each of the three COPs which will be running back-to-back and will include, for the first time, a High-Level Ministerial component on the first week. From there, they will strategise and finalise their shared priorities, which they will be advocating for in Geneva from 28 April to 9 May 2025.
The two-day meeting will also include a negotiations training led by the SPREP Legal division which will prove to be useful for those who are new to negotiations to get an insight into how the process works and how they can effectively negotiate on behalf of their countries and the Pacific.
For more information, please contact Mr. Anthony Talouli at anthonyt@sprep.org.