Recently the Conferences of the Parties (CoPs) to the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions (BRS COPs), concluded at Geneva, Switzerland.
- The theme for this year’s conference was “Make visible the invisible: sound management of chemicals and wastes”.
About BRS CoPs
- The BRS CoPs occur every two years and aim to advance global action on hazardous chemicals and waste management.
- India is a party to all three conventions.
About the Conventions
- Basel Convention on Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal
- Adopted in 1989 in Switzerland; came into force in 1992.
- Aims to reduce hazardous waste generation and promote environmentally sound management.
- Establishes a regulatory system for permissible cross-border waste transfers while restricting movements that don't align with environmental principles.
- Rotterdam Convention on prior informed consent procedure for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade
- Adopted in 1998 in Rotterdam, Netherlands; entered into force in 2004.
- Promotes shared responsibility and cooperation in international trade of hazardous chemicals to protect health and environment.
- Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
- Adopted in 2001 in Stockholm, Sweden; entered into force in 2004.
- It is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from POPs.
- The convention aims to: Eliminate dangerous POPs (Dirty Dozens), Support the transition to safer alternatives, Target additional POPs for action, etc.