TEHRAN — Basel and Stockholm Convention Regional Center, an institution aiming at protecting human health and the environment against the adverse effects of hazardous wastes, extended its establishment in Iran for five more years until 2020.

Over a ceremony held on Saturday in Tehran the Secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, Rolph Payet, and the Department of Environment deputy director Sa'eed Motesaddi inked an agreement on continuation of Basel and Stockholm Convention Regional Center establishment in Iran.

Basel and Stockholm Convention Regional Center was first opened in Iran some 15 years ago with the purpose of controlling trans-boundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal in Tehran, DOE director for international affairs and conventions Majid Shafipour said.

“There are only six regional centers worldwide one of which is in Iran and now by renewing the agreement we are trying to promote our activities by encouraging other countries of western Asia to join us,” he added.

He further explained that countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Iraq and Bhutan are of the centers’ members.

Payet, for his part, lauded Iran’s active role in fulfilling its commitments to the conventions.

He further highlighted that as economic sector is growing in Western Asia integrated management of hazardous waste are becoming of overriding importance, adding “sharing what we have in terms of both sustainable development and economic growth and make sure the pollution does not get passed on the future generation and create a sustainable future is also crucial.

He finally encouraged the center to go beyond the Basel Convention as he believes there is great potential among academics and industries in Iran to go beyond what the convention simply dictates and try to engage all people in the context of sustainable development goals.

The Basel Convention on the Control of Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal was adopted on March 22, 1989 by the Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Basel, Switzerland, in response to a public outcry following the discovery, in the 1980s, in Africa and other parts of the developing world of deposits of toxic wastes imported from abroad.

The regional centers focus on training and technology transfer regarding the management of hazardous and other wastes and the minimization of their generation.

MQ/MG