28 April 2025, Geneva, Switzerland – Tuvalu’s push for enhanced coordination amongst Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) attending the Joint Conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions (BRS COPs) being held in Geneva, Switzerland, is a precedent they hope will be followed for future BRS COPs.
Tuvalu has taken over from Vanuatu as Chair of PSIDS at the BRS COPs, and their first order of business was to convene the first coordination meeting for PSIDS representatives attending the COP, bringing together delegates to reaffirm their shared priorities as agreed to during the Regional Preparatory Meeting held in Cook Islands in March.
The coordination meetings, which will be held every other day for the duration of the COP, will also provide an opportunity for the small delegation from the Pacific to strategise on how best to navigate the negotiations process given their small numbers.
Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Palau, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu are the Pacific parties present in Geneva for the two weeks of deliberations for the Joint COPs.
Mr. Penivao Moealofa, Assistant Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Climate Change, and the Environment of the Government of Tuvalu, says that Tuvalu is honoured to be taking over as Chair of PSIDS, and proud to be the driving force behind the first coordination meetings to be convened at the BRS COPs, which he hopes will set a precedent for future COPs.
“As PSIDS Chair in Geneva, I understand that not all members of PSIDS parties to the Conventions are present and not all members are parties to all three conventions. Our push for better PSIDS coordination is to ensure that the voices of all our members, present or otherwise, are heard in this meeting,” Mr. Moealofa says.
“We want to coordinate our members in a way that can set a precedence for future BRS COPs. We need better coordination as PSIDS because we have very small numbers that can attend these COPs. Through better coordination, will be able to work together and help each other achieve our shared priorities.”
The Pacific delegation has prepared well in advance for the BRS COP through the Regional Preparatory Meeting which was held in Cook Islands in March, organised by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme which is also the Pacific Regional Centre for Training and Technology Transfer for the Joint Implementation of the Basel and the Waigani Conventions in the South Pacific region.
According to Mr. Moealofa, of the Pacific island countries present in Geneva, only Cook Islands, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu are party to all three Conventions. However, they will try their best to ensure that the voices of other Pacific countries are included in the discussions over the next two weeks.
The Pacific will be pushing for the proposed list of chemicals to be addressed at the BRS COPs, as well as for plastic waste to be included in the Annex and incorporated in a way that addresses its impacts.
“We are also in the process of negotiating a plastics treaty, and push for these MEAs to be interlinked, especially Article 3 of the plastics treaty on chemicals which we would like to see addressed here at this COP,” Mr. Moealofa added.
The 17th Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention, 12th Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention, and the 12th Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention officially opened today in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal 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 Rotterdam Convention on the Prior, Informed Consent Procedure for Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade aims to promote shared responsibility and collaborative effort among Parties in the international trade of certain hazardous chemicals in order to protect human health and the environment from potential harm.
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 of time and accumulate in the fatty tissues of human and wildlife, resulting in harmful impacts on human health and the environment.
The representatives from the Pacific include Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.