The Geneva Environment Network Secretariat organized a briefing to Permanent Missions on the activities of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions Secretariat, and the Interim Secretariat of the Minamata Convention, on 29 January 2015.

This event was the occasion to introduce Rolph Payet, the new Executive Secretary of the three conventions, to the Permanent Missions in Geneva. The event targeted the preparations of the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention (BC COP-12), the seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention (RC COP-7) and the seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention (SC COP-7). All three COPs will be held back-to-back in Geneva from 4 to 15 May 2015. The theme of the triple COPs will be ‘From Science to Action, Working for a Safer Tomorrow’. To highlight the crucial role that science plays in the policymaking of the conventions, a three day science fair will be organized from 7 to 9 May 2015.

In preparation for the triple COPs, four regional meetings will be held to provide parties to the three conventions with an opportunity to consult each other in advance, identify regional priorities and challenges, consider meeting documents and discuss substantive matters; for the Asia-Pacific Region from 17-20 March 2015 in Jakarta, Indonesia; for the African Region from 24-27 March 2015 in Nairobi, Kenya; for Central and Eastern Europe from 7-10 April 2015 in Bratislava, Slovakia; and for the Latin American and Caribbean Region, from 14-17 April 2015 in Montevideo, Uruguay. The Interim Secretariat of the Minamata Convention on Mercury will be organizing regional workshops to support ratification and early implementation of the Minamata Convention in 2015, back-to-back with the BRS regional meetings.

Recent and current activities of the three conventions presented during this briefing includes, inter alia, the joint meeting of the bureaux of the conferences of the parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions (11-12 November 2014), the tenth meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (27-30 October 2014), the tenth meeting of the Chemical Review Committee (22-24 October 2014), the eleventh meeting of the Basel Convention Implementation and Compliance Committee (22-24 September 2014) and the ninth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group (16-19 September 2014).

During this event, Switzerland presented its perspectives on the upcoming COPs.

More information: Diana.rizzolio@unep.org