Other UNEP activities on Chemicals and Waste
1. Support to the Stockholm Convention
1.1 Assessments, carried out by UNEP’s Division of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA)
GEMS/Water provides expertise, advice and strategic planning with respect to water quality through membership on the POP’s expert committee under UNEP-Chemicals, Geneva. GEMS/Water can provide elements of analytical QA/QC, chemical analysis, data management, interpretation and assessment.
1.2 Regional Office for West Asia
- Working with NFPs in member states to sign and ratify the Stockholm Convention and develop their NIPs for their enabling activities to implement the Convention.
- Working with UNEP/Chemicals, SBC, GCC, and Environmental Affairs in Bahrain to explore the potential of creating a Regional Centre in Bahrain specialized in the management and technologies of chemicals and hazardous wastes.
- Support to Chemicals Unit activities on Stockholm Convention in the region
- Participation in the CAMRE Arab Technical Team on MEAs concerning Hazardous Chemicals and Waste Management
- Development of a proposal for funding an analytical laboratory facility for POPs and Persistent Toxic Substances (PTS)
1.3 GPA and POPS, carried out by UNEP’s Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA)
- POPS are a source category of the GPA and UNEP as the Secretariat implements the GPA components through the Chemicals unit of DTIE. GPA Coordination office programme support includes the following:
- Participated in the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) workshop on support for the implementation of the Stockholm Convention on POPS in St.John Antigua and Barbuda 7-10 April 2003. The objectives of the workshop were among others, to: encourage and facilitate ratification of or accession to the Convention; Report on the current situation in AOSIS countries with regard to existing and planned measures for implementing action on POPS and other toxic chemicals
- initiated a study on Global Initiatives and Instruments that can assist SIDS in addressing their environmental concerns, including, among others; international and regional conventions and their protocols
- The GPA Clearing-House Mechanism has a node on POPS
2. Support to the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent Procedures (PIC), carried out by UNEP’s Regional Office for West Asia
- Working with NFPs in member states to sign and ratify the Rotterdam Convention.
- Support to Chemicals Unit activities on Rotterdam Convention in the region
- Participation in the CAMRE Arab Technical Team on MEAs concerning Hazardous Chemicals and Waste Management
3. Support to the Basel Convention, carried out by UNEP’s Regional Office for West Asia
- Working with the Secretariat of the Basel Convention (SBC) and the Yemeni Environmental Protection Authority to develop a National Action Plan for the management of Hazardous Wastes and the implementation of the Basel Convention in Yemen.
- Support to the establishment of waste management strategies and networks, including the establishment of a regional hazardous wastes centre jointly with the Basel Convention
- Train-the-Trainer Workshop on Hazardous Waste Management
- Participation in the CAMRE Arab Technical Team on MEAs concerning Hazardous Chemicals and Waste Management
4. Hazardous Waste Management, carried out by UNEP’s Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE)
DTIE has for many years been undertaking work on hazardous waste management to assist countries in implementing the Basel Convention. Most of this work has consisted of capacity building through publication of trainer's manuals, and holding training events in various regions. In recent years DTIE has worked with the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) to prepare technical and training material and run workshops based on these manuals. The Basel Secretariat has been a partner in this work, and has distributed the UNEP material to its focal points and regional centres. A major focus of the recent collaborative work has been to introduce cleaner production approaches more deeply into Convention implementation and in hazardous waste management industry generally so as to achieve a reduction in waste volume.