3. International obligations

3.1
The Waste Act specifies as one of the requirements of the NWMS that it should give effect to South Africa’s international obligations in terms of waste management. Furthermore, the background of International declarations, agreements and treaties has provided an important context for the evolution of South African environmental policy in general, and waste management policy in particular.
In many respects, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 ushered in the modern period of global co-operation on environmental issues. The “Earth Summit” (as it became known) was significant for developing country negotiators because it linked the concepts of environment and development and thereby placed sustainable development firmly on the global agenda.

3.2
The principal outcomes of the Earth Summit included:

• The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, a non-binding declaration of principles of sustainable development and protection of the environment, which were defined as mutually inclusive objectives.
• A non-binding agreement known as Agenda 21, representing the United Nation’s programme for sustainable development in the 21st century. Amongst others, agenda 21 advocates the following four major waste-related programmes: minimizing wastes; maximizing environmentally sound waste reuse and recycling; promoting environmentally sound waste disposal and treatment; and extending waste service coverage.
• The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity, which were negotiated in parallel to the UNCED process, were opened for signature at the Earth Summit and are often regarded as UNCED agreements.

3.3
The Rio Summit was the pre-cursor to a series of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), including treaties on forests, regional trans-boundary air pollution, desertification, biotechnology safety, land-based sources of marine pollution, water quality, regional trans-boundary movement of hazardous waste, the management of toxic chemicals, and the trans-boundary movement of radioactive waste. Many of these instruments came into being during the 1990s, thereby creating the modern system of global environmental governance.

3.4
In the build up to the Rio Summit, the Basel Convention, held on 22 March 1989, called for control of the trans-boundary movement of hazardous waste and its disposal. Whilst South Africa subsequently acceded to this Convention, no legislation was passed at the time to give effect to it. The second Basel convention, held on 8 October 2005, set standards for the control of trans-boundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal, setting out the categorization of hazardous wastes and the policies for their disposal between member countries. South Africa accedes to this convention and implements its provisions.

3.5
The Rotterdam Convention was held in September 1998 to promote shared responsibilities in relation to importation of hazardous chemicals. One of the key provisions is the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure, which lists information on hazardous chemicals in Annex III. It became legally binding on its parties in 2004. The convention promotes open exchange of information and calls on exporters of hazardous chemicals to use proper labelling, include directions on safe handling, and inform purchasers of any known restrictions or bans. Parties can decide whether to allow or ban the importation of chemicals listed in the treaty, and exporting countries are obliged make sure that producers within their jurisdiction comply. From this convention a PIC circular is distributed every six months giving updated information on the listed chemicals, member compliance and sources of supporting information.

3.6
In 1995 the United Nations Environment Programme called for global action to be taken on persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which pose a threat to both health and the environment. As a result, the negotiations for the Stockholm Convention on POPs were initiated and culminated in May 2001, with the convention entered into force in May 2004. South Africa accedes to this convention, whereby member countries have agreed to phase out POPs, and prevent their import or export.

3.7
Following the Millennium Summit convened by the General Assembly of the United Nations, which adopted the Millennium Development Goals, a ten year review progress on the implementation of Agenda 21 was convened in Johannesburg in 2002. In September 2002 the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, which affirmed the United Nation’s commitment to the full implementation of Agenda 21, was agreed to at the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD). The Johannesburg Plan of Implementation sets out 37 targets for achieving sustainable development, which are inclusive of the Millennium Development Goals.

3.8
In fulfilment of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation DEAT developed the National Framework for Sustainable Development which initiates a broad framework for sustainable development and provides a platform for the development of a national strategy to give effect to the targets set out at WSSD. The National Framework for Sustainable Development was published in 2008.

3.9
In February 2006 the first session of the International Convention on Chemicals Management took place in Dubai, where it adopted the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management. This approach aims to support the achievement of the goals set at the 2002 WSSD in Johannesburg. Currently South Africa, represented by DEAT, is preparing for the second session of the International Convention on Chemicals Management which will take place in Geneva in May 2009.

3.10
South Africa has acceded to conventions intended to prevent pollution of the seas. These not only cover the obvious issue of dumping waste at sea, but also prescribe measures to prevent waste on land contaminating the seas and waterways. This waste includes oil, solid waste, nuclear waste and debris from landfill sites.

3.11
Several obligations exist around measures to protect the ozone layer and mitigate climate change. One of the roles that waste management can play in achieving these obligations is the reduction and efficient management of gases released from waste at landfill sites.