The ninth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Basel Convention (OEWG-9) will convene from 16 to 19 September in Geneva, Switzerland, and will help mark the 25th anniversary of the Basel Convention. There are several scientific and technical issues for the OEWG to consider in preparation for the Basel Conference of the Parties (COP) in 2015. The OEWG will consider the updated technical guidelines for the environmentally sound management of wastes containing mercury and persistent organic pollutants (POPs).

The updated technical guidelines on transboundary movements of electrical and electronic waste, often called e-waste, will be revisited, building on progress from the Basel COP in 2013. Among other issues, the OEWG will also discuss the framework for the environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes and the future operations of the OEWG.

Environmental Ministers and High Level Representatives of the governments of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, the Slovak Republic and Ukraine will meet on 23 – 26 September in Mikulov, Czech Republic for the Fourth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP4) to the Carpathian Convention. As the main decision-making body of the Convention, the COP will decide the strategic policy direction of the Carpathian Convention for the next three years.

COP4 is hosted by the Czech Government and marks the handover of the Slovak presidency of the Carpathian Convention to the Czech Republic, which will preside over the Convention until 2017.

The COP is the main decision-making body of the Carpathian Convention. It is a forum that allows the parties to exchange their views, to coordinate mechanisms towards the realization of the aims of the treaty, to adopt amendments, protocols and decisions for implementation, and to enforce the obligations contained in the treaty.

For more information please visit the website: www.carpathianconvention.org

On 24 September 2014, a Special High-Level event on the Minamata Convention on Mercury will be held at UN Headquarters in New York in the margin of the 2014 Treaty Event organized by the UN Office of Legal Affairs. Representatives are invited to attend to sign the Convention and, where possible, deposit the instrument of ratification.

On 28 May, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon invited Heads of State and Government to the 2014 Treaty Event, which will be held from 23 to 25 September and from 30 September to 1 October 2014 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. This event will be held concurrently with the General Debate of the sixty-ninth session of the General Assembly, opening on 24 September. Among 40 multilateral treaties highlighted for the 2014 Treaty Event, the Minamata Convention, as well as the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions are included in the field of the environment. The Secretary-General invited Heads of State and Government to profit from the Treaty Event to sign treaties and deposit instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession to the treaties concerned.

Therefore, and to facilitate the signature and ratification of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, a Special High-level Event will be held. This event invites representatives to sign the Convention, with the presence of Treaty Section, and where possible, deposit the instrument of ratification. Following the signing ceremony, representatives will be committed to make statements regarding their signature. This event will offer an opportunity to governments to demonstrate their commitment to the Minamata Convention and will be used also as a mean for outreach in order to facilitate rapid entry into force of the Convention. The convention will remain open for signature until 9 October 2014.

For more information about the event, please contact the Interim Secretariat of the Mercury Convention

The Alpine Space Programma C3-Alps project closing conference will take place on 14 October in Vienna, Austria. The conference is co-funded by the Alpine Space Programme of the EU, organized by the Umweltbundesamt, UNEP Vienna – Regional Office for Europe, and the Austrian Association of Cities and Towns, and implemented by the C3-Alps partnership.

The conference will bring together representatives from regions, municipalities and cities, public administration officers, policy makers, practitioners, and experts from national to local level. It is designed to facilitate the direct exchange of knowledge and experiences from peer to peer, from region to region, and across governance levels. To foster interaction and dialogue, the conference will offer a market place of best practice examples of adaptation measures, future labs on hot topics, facilitated panel debates, and live interviews.

For more information please go to www.c3alps.eu/index.php/en/