UNEA (United Nations Environment Assembly)

TOPIC: Environment

Context- The 5th meeting of UNEA will be held February 28, 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya.

Concept-

About UNEA:

UNEA was created in June 2012, during the United Nation Conference on Sustainable Development (RIO+20).
Hosted by the UN Environment Programme, the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) brings together representatives of the 193 Member States of the UN, businesses, civil society and other stakeholders to agree on policies to address the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.
It meets biennially to set priorities for global environmental policies and develop international environmental law.
The overall theme for UNEA-5 is “Strengthening Actions for Nature to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals”.

Basel Convention:

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, usually known as the Basel Convention, is an international treaty that was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations,
It specifically to prevent transfer of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries (LDCs).
It does not, however, address the movement of radioactive waste.
The convention was opened for signature on 21 March 1989, and entered into force on 5 May 1992.

Stockholm Convention:

Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is an international environmental treaty opened for signature in 2001 in Stockholm (Sweden) and became effective in 2004.
It aims to eliminate or restrict the production and use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
The convention calls to ban nine of the dirty dozen chemicals (key POPs), limit the use of DDT to malaria control, and curtail inadvertent production of dioxins and furans. The convention listed twelve distinct chemicals in three categories:
- Eight pesticides (aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, mirex and toxaphene)
- Two industrial chemicals (poly chlorinated biphenyls and hexachlorobenzene)
- Two unintended by-products of many industrial processes involving chlorine commonly referred to as dioxins and furans.