|
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, and 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 is also intended to minimize the amount and toxicity of wastes generated, to ensure their environmentally sound management as closely as possible to the source of generation, and to assist LDCs in environmentally sound management of the hazardous and other wastes they generate. The Convention was opened for signature on 22 March 1989, and entered into force on 5 May 1992. As of January 2015, 182 states and the European Union are parties to the Convention. Haiti and the United States have signed the Convention but not ratified it.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Status as at 13 January 2013 )〕〔("Parties to the Basel Convention," ) Basel Convention website. Accessed: May 31, 2013.〕 ==History== With the tightening of environmental laws (for example, RCRA) in developed nations in the 1970s, disposal costs for hazardous waste rose dramatically. At the same time, globalization of shipping made transboundary movement of waste more accessible, and many LDCs were desperate for foreign currency. Consequently, the trade in hazardous waste, particularly to LDCs, grew rapidly. One of the incidents which led to the creation of the Basel Convention was the ''Khian Sea'' waste disposal incident, in which a ship carrying incinerator ash from the city of Philadelphia in the United States dumped half of its load on a beach in Haiti before being forced away. It sailed for many months, changing its name several times. Unable to unload the cargo in any port, the crew was believed to have dumped much of it at sea. Another is the 1988 Koko case in which 5 ships transported 8,000 barrels of hazardous waste from Italy to the small town of Koko in Nigeria in exchange for $100 monthly rent which was paid to a Nigerian for the use of his farmland. These practices have been deemed "Toxic Colonialism" by many developing countries. At its most recent meeting, 27 November – 1 December 2006, the Conference of the parties of the Basel Agreement focused on issues of electronic waste and the dismantling of ships. According to Maureen Walsh, only around 4% of hazardous wastes that come from OECD countries are actually shipped across international borders. These wastes include, among others, chemical waste, radioactive waste, municipal solid waste, asbestos, incinerator ash, and old tires. Of internationally shipped waste that comes from developed countries, more than half is shipped for recovery and the remainder for final disposal. Increased trade in recyclable materials has led to an increase in a market for used products such as computers. This market is valued in billions of dollars. At issue is the distinction when used computers stop being a "commodity" and become a "waste". As of January 2015, there are 183 parties to the treaty, which includes 180 UN member states plus the Cook Islands, the European Union, and the State of Palestine. The 13 UN member states that are not party to the treaty are Angola, East Timor, Fiji, Grenada, Haiti, San Marino, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, South Sudan, Tajikistan, Tuvalu, United States, and Vanuatu.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Basel Convention」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|