Three major international conventions deal with the control of environmental pollutants, substances that can cause harm to human, animal and plant life. The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal had been signed by 183 countries as of January 2015. The convention aims to reduce the movement of hazardous waste across international borders, especially from developed to less-developed nations, and includes measures to minimise the amount and toxicity of hazardous waste. The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants was signed in 2001 and seeks to restrict the production and use of persistent organic pollutants, or POPs. The latter are chemical substances that persist in the environment, permeate the food chain, and thus pose a risk to human, animal and plant life. Then there is the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade. The convention, which went into effect in 2004, restricts the importation of hazardous chemicals and requires exporters of such materials to use proper labelling to indicate the nature of the substances involved and the best means of handling them, as well as any known restrictions or bans on their use. Mostafa Hussein Kamel is the director of the BCRC-Egypt, short for the Basel Convention Regional Centre for Training and Technology Transfer for the Arab States, and is also a former environment minister. The Basel Convention was ratified in 1989 and went into effect in 1992. With 192 member countries, it is now almost a worldwide agreement. To implement it, 14 regional centres are now in operation around the world, providing training and technology transfer for the sound management of toxic waste. BCRC-Egypt, which signed a memorandum of understanding with the Basel Convention Secretariat in 1998, has been organising regional workshops on the management of hazardous waste across the region. Based at Cairo University, it helps 22 Arab countries implement the Basel Convention and offers advice on other relevant agreements, including the Stockholm and Rotterdam conventions. The Arab world, Kamel says, needs to put in place a comprehensive system for the management of harmful substances. An information-exchange mechanism comprising the three conventions must also be developed, he adds, as the Arab region is starting to feel the harmful effects of hazardous materials. It must exert further efforts to end the illegal trade in such substances and monitor their movement in an effective manner. Arab governments also need to pass laws supporting implementation of the Basel Convention and related treaties. Some efforts have been made so far, but Kamel is worried they may not be sufficient to meet the challenges posed by today's pollutants and hazardous substances. He voices the hope that Egypt will be able to operate the sophisticated laboratories needed to identify hazardous substances. Oladele Osibanjo is director of the Basel Convention Coordinating Centre for Africa, or BCCC-Africa, based in Nigeria. He is worried about the health hazards of exposure to toxic chemicals and other pollutants, which he says may cause long-term glandular diseases and nerve damage, as well as a host of respiratory and skin problems. Electronic refuse, mass-produced because of information technology, also poses new risks to health. According to Osibanjo, nearly 21 million tons of hazardous electronic refuse are generated annually worldwide. Of these, Africa needs to cope with about two million tons per year. Mohamed Al-Khashashna is health and safety director at the Jordanian Ministry of the Environment and is currently handling preparations for an environmental conference that will be held in Geneva in a few months' time. He wants to see more resources allocated to environmental issues in the Arab world, especially to the sound management of hazardous substances, and notes that communication channels must be created to ensure that national institutions involved in toxic waste management are working in tandem. Al-Khashashna adds that the current instability in the Arab world could have grave consequences for the environment, as toxic waste may be smuggled across borders by unscrupulous groups. Michel Seck, director of the Basel Convention Regional Centre for French-Speaking Countries in Africa, urges the speedy creation of a regional database for harmful chemical substances, POPs and toxic waste. He also wants to see the creation of an online digital library to help enhance awareness of toxic substances and the best ways to dispose of them or limit their impact on the environment. Hisham Al-Qasas, dean of the Institute for Environment Studies and Research at Ain Shams University in Cairo, says that the annual production of solid waste is likely to grow from 1.3 billion tons at present to 2.2 billion tons by 2025, which will increase the cost of its disposal from $205 billion today to nearly $375 billion. According to World Bank figures, 70 per cent of this increase will take place in developing countries, which are already grappling with a shortage of finance and limited technical abilities. According to Al-Qasas, exposure to toxic materials is causing 4.9 million deaths every year, or 8.4 per cent of all world fatalities. Harmful chemicals impair the ability of nature to provide clean food and water to humans, animals and plants, he adds. Pollutants, including toxic waste, are costing the world nearly one per cent of global GDP. For example, Africa needs to spend up to $175 million to clean the environment of the after-effects of chemical pesticides. The US, meanwhile, spends nearly $1 billion per year to dispose of hazardous refuse. Egypt loses nearly 1.8 per cent of its GDP each year due to air pollution, Al-Qasas notes. Mohamed Al-Zarqa, an international expert in hazardous waste, says that the tight monitoring of imported chemicals is the first step to controlling the problem. Any activities producing hazardous refuse must be managed in a manner that ensures the proper disposal of harmful substances, he adds. Walid Al-Arabi, a representative of the Arab League General Secretariat, said that the League is promoting communication among Arab countries and regional centres with regard to environmental treaties. It is important to develop an Arab network for environmental information to help fight the harmful effects of hazardous materials, he added. Hassan Moussa, who works for the Djibouti Ministry of the Environment, says that his country needs a higher level of coordination among government agencies on the matter of hazardous waste. He says out that Djibouti needs at least 12 years to get rid of the pollutants in its soil and water, adding that Djibouti often sends soil and water samples to Germany for analysis as the country lacks the facilities to test and analyse pollutants.
