Geneva, Switzerland, from 28 April to 9 May 2025
Highlights: The seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention (BC COP-17), the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention (RC COP-12) and the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention (SC COP-12) were held back-to-back in Geneva from 28 April to 9 May 2025. The theme of the meetings and its high-level segment was “Make visible the invisible: sound management of chemicals and wastes”.
The meetings included a high-level segment on the afternoon of Wednesday, 30 April 2025 and the morning of Thursday, 1 May 2025. The high-level segment fostered constructive dialogue and strong political engagement, as ministers and senior officials shared national experiences and reaffirmed their commitment to scaling up action on chemicals and waste. Additional information on the high-level segment is available in the section “High-level segment”.
The meetings were attended by over 2,000 participants from 182 country Parties and 205 observer entities. A total of 56 decisions were adopted strengthening the sound management of chemicals and wastes for the protection of human health and the environment, including 20 decisions adopted by BC COP-17, seven decisions by RC COP-12 and 21 decisions by SC COP-12, as well as eight decisions on joint issues adopted by the three conferences.
Among the key outcomes, the three conferences of the Parties committed to stronger collaboration with other environmental agreements and initiatives. BC COP-17 adopted amendments to Annex IV to the Convention; updated technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of persistent organic pollutants wastes; and a new strategic framework for the implementation of the Convention for 2025-2031. The Conference furthermore initiated a new area of work related to addressing transboundary movements of textile wastes. RC COP-12 listed two new chemicals in Annex III to the Convention, the pesticide carbosulfan and the severely hazardous pesticide formulation fenthion (ultra-low-volume formulations at or above 640 g active ingredient/L). The Conference also agreed on further activities to enhance the effectiveness of the Convention and adopted the programme of work of the Compliance Committee for 2026-2027. SC COP-12 amended Annex A to the Convention to list three new chemicals therein, namely the pesticide chlorpyriphos and two groups of industrial chemicals, long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids (LC-PFCAs) and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (MCCPs). Additionally, Parties adopted the inaugural programme of work of the Convention’s Compliance Committee and transmitted the funding needs for the Convention’s implementing to the Global Environment Facility.
Thanks to voluntary contributions from the Governments of Canada, China, Finland, Germany, Japan, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland, financial assistance was provided to support the participation of developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition to attend the meetings.