Ratification by Croatia Seals Entry into Force of Basel Ban Amendment
Seattle, Washington, USA. Croatia's 6th of September deposit of ratification of the 1995 Basel Ban Amendment has allowed this global waste dumping prohibition to finally enter into the force of international law. The Ban Amendment, adopted by the parties to the Basel Convention in 1995, prohibits the export of hazardous wastes from member states of the European Union, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and Liechtenstein to all other countries.
Quezon City, Philippines/Taipei, Taiwan. Environmental health groups from Taiwan and the Philippines have joined the mounting clamor for justice for Filipina worker Deserie Castro Tagubasi who died from an acid spill while working at Tyntek electronics factory in the Chunan Science Park, Miaoli County.
From 19 – 20 August, 2019, the IPEN Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) Regional Workshop was held in Volgograd, Russia. The workshop was conducted by Eco-Accord - the IPEN EECCA Regional Hub, and by "Volgograd-Ecopress" Information Centre.
The workshop participants discussed activities of IPEN member-organisations and civic organisations of Volgograd, Volzhsky, Rostov, Saratov, and Krasnodar, that deal with addressing complex issues of safe waste management, access to environmental information, and public participation in decision-making on matters of environmental significance. IPEN activities at the international level were presented, as well as specific projects of the Network's member-organisations in different countries and their participation in IPEN global campaigns.
National and international environmental health organizations are urging the Canadian government to ratify the BAN Amendment to the Basel Convention and end the exportation of waste to developing countries. One of the primary objectives of the Basel Convention is to have countries take responsibility for their own wastes in their own country and, in particular, stop the practice of exporting wastes to developing countries.
Bangkok, Thailand - IPEN Participating Organizations (POs) from Jordan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam actively participated in a regional workshop for Asia-Pacific promoting regulatory and voluntary actions by government and industry to phase out lead in paint. Completing the 10-member civil society delegation were the IPEN regional coordinators for South Asia (SA) and Southeast and East Asia (SEA) and the IPEN Global Lead Paint Elimination Campaign team.
