During the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly, a side event will be dedicated to waste management and enforcement. The side event aims to highlight the fundamental role played by enforcement agencies, primarily customs and border control officers, in promoting compliance to relevant chemicals and waste related multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and related national legislation. The event will specifically reflect on the officers’ role in the management of wastes towards attaining the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Date: Thursday, 29 February, 2024
Time: 13:45 to 15:15 (UTC +03:00)
Venue: United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) Nairobi, Kenya. Online participation possible (see below)
Chemicals and waste such as pesticides, ozone depleting substances, plastic waste and electronic waste have grave impacts on our water, soil, atmospheric environments, and ultimately our health. Strong and capable border enforcement authorities are key to preventing the negative impacts resulting from illegal trade of these commodities, while maximizing the benefits of their trade, and contributing to international cooperation efforts to address the pollution crisis. The event will thus provide a forum to exchange on good customs enforcement and cooperation practices at national, transboundary and international levels. Additionally, as outlined the United Nation’s General Assembly resolution 76/185 on preventing and combating crimes that affect the environment, cooperation at the national and international levels is vital to abating environmental crime. Accordingly, the event will highlight initiatives such as the Green Customs Initiative that are working with customs and MEA secretariats to promote such cooperation.
After an introduction to the Green Customs Initiative, the event features a presentation on “Enforcement and illegal traffic under the Basel Convention, environmental crimes related to hazardous and other wastes, and results of Operation Demeter IX”. This will be followed by a panel session on “Preventing and combatting traffic in hazardous and other wastes: regional and national experiences”, drawing from practical experiences in different parts of the world.
More information
Participation is open to all and online participation is also available at the following Microsoft Teams link.
The side event will be held in English.
- Link: UNEP Event
- UNEA – 6 App
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