Highlights and images for 6 May 2019

Switzerland

Summary

Highlights for Monday, 6 May 2019

Yvonne Ewang-Sanvincenti, BRS Conventions Secretariat, consults with delegates from Palestine, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia regarding transit notifications under the Basel Convention

BRS COPs On Monday, delegates to the 2019 meetings of the Conferences of the Parties (COP) to the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm (BRS) Conventions convened for the second week and continued work related to implementation of the Basel Convention. Participants made swift progress through many of the outstanding items of the agenda, adopting decisions on, inter alia, technical guidelines on environmentally sound management (ESM) of waste lead-acid batteries and wastes consisting of, containing, or contaminated with mercury or mercury compounds.Contact groups met throughout the day on strategic matters, technical matters, plastics, compliance and legal issues, and budget. In the plastics group, participants considered, among other issues, proposed language to amend Annexes II, VIII, and IX, and sought to clarify and define key terms such as “mixed wastes.” The group on strategic matters completed its mandate on the follow-up to the Partnership for Action on Computing Equipment, and will present its outcomes to plenary on Tuesday. In the technical matters contact group, discussions continued on proposed cooperation with the World Customs Organization on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, with many participants calling for plastic waste to be included in the System.As delegates closed in on the end of Basel Convention COP14, many commented on how efficiently the work has been carried out so far under both the Stockholm and Basel Conventions. While a few challenging issues remain, most discussions have been characterized by deliberate movement toward consensus. Several have expressed hope that this approach will continue when delegates turn their attention to the Rotterdam Convention on Tuesday morning.For more details on the day's events and to hear what delegates said in the corridors, see our Earth Negotiations Bulletin.

IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, provided daily web coverage, daily reports, and a summary and analysis report from the 2019 Meetings of the Conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions. The summary and analysis report is available in HTML and PDF.

Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth

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Plenary: Basel Convention
Carlos Martin-Novella, BRS Deputy Executive Secretary; Abraham Zivayi Matiza, Basel Convention COP14 President; David Ogden, Susan Wingfield, and Yvonne Ewang-Sanvincenti, BRS Conventions Secretariat
Angela Patricia Rivera Galvis, Colombia
Serge Molly Allo'o Allo'o, Gabon
Erika Martínez Liévano, Mexico
Charles Ikeah, Nigeria
Hassan Azhar, Maldives
Manoj Kumar Gangeya, Co-Chair, Contact Group on Plastics
Alexander Romanov, Russian Federation
Gillian Guthrie, Jamaica, speaks with Obed Baloyi, South Africa
Luis Vayas, Ecuador, speaks with Osvaldo Álvarez-Pérez, Rotterdam Convention COP9 President
Delegates speak informally during plenary
Contact Groups
Contact Group on Plastics
Linroy Christian and Premysl Stepanek, Co-Chairs, Contact Group on Programme of Work and Budget
Contact Group on Basel Convention Technical Matters
Around the Venue
Jacob Duer, Chief, Chemicals and Health Branch, Economy Division, UN Environment Programme (UNEP); Joyce Msuya, Acting Executive Director, UNEP; Rolph Payet, Executive Secretary, BRS Conventions; Ambassador Terhi Hakala, Permanent Mission of Finland, Geneva; and Ambassador Ramses Joseph Cleland, Permanent Mission of Ghana, Geneva
Delegates from the African region
Delegates from Nicaragua
Heidar Ali Balouji, Iran, Adel Shafei Mohamed Osman, Egypt, and Mohammed Khashashneh, Stockholm Convention COP9 President, share a moment as the first day of Ramadan begins
Delegates from Palestine, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen consult with the BRS Conventions Secretariat in the corridors
Rolph Payet, Executive Secretary, BRS Conventions
Joyce Msuya, Acting Executive Director, UNEP
John Whitelaw, Consultant
Delegates enjoy lunch in the kitchen display around the venue
A delegate visits the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) webpage to keep up to date with negotiations
Eirik Lindebjerg, Global Plastics Policy Manager, WWF