The Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions are multilateral environmental agreements, which share the common objective of protecting human health and the environment from hazardous chemicals and wastes.

These agreements can assist countries to manage chemicals at different stages of their life-cycle. A framework for enhancing cooperation and coordination among these three conventions has been set up in order to strengthen the impact of the work of the three conventions at all levels.

Consultative process on financing options for chemicals and wastes:

The consultative process on financing options for chemicals and wastes was launched by the UNEP Executive Director in recognition of the need for adequate resources in the field of chemicals and wastes management. The process was first announced at the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants held in May 2009. The purpose of the consultations would be to analyse the current situation with regard to financing for chemicals and waste management at the national level, including but not limited to the implementation of Party obligations under chemicals-related multilateral environmental agreements, and to devise strategic, synergistic proposals for improving it. The consultations would also provide advice to the UNEP Executive Director on options that could be pursued to move forward in this area. Fore more information, please consult the website of the consultative process.

The Secretariats of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions at the 19th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-19)

New York, USA – 2-13 May 2011. The 19th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-19) is taking place in New-York from 2-13 May 2011.

Building on CSD 18's review, CSD-19 is a "policy" session, during which delegates will agree on policy recommendations to expedite implementation in the five thematic clusters under consideration: transport, chemicals, waste management, mining, and the 10-year framework of programmes (10YFP) on sustainable consumption and production (SCP). Read More ...

The decisions on enhanced cooperation and coordination among the three conventions, also called “synergies decisions” were considered and adopted by the Conferences of the Parties to the Basel Convention (decision IX/10, June 2008), Rotterdam Convention (decision RC-4/11,October 2008) and Stockholm Convention (decision SC-4/34, May 2009) without any substantive amendments.

The “synergies decisions” concern synergies at the national, regional and global levels in the following areas:

1. Organizational issues in the field;
2. Technical issues;
3. Information management and public awareness issues;
4. Administrative issues.

List of pre-session documents on synergies for the meetings of the Conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions in 2011
Note: the documents are those presented to the meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention. Substantially identical documents will be made available for the meetings of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel and Rotterdam conventions.