India Advocates Global Action on Chemicals and Waste at BRS COPs 2025

An Inter-Ministerial delegation from India, led by the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, participated in the Conference of the Parties (COPs) to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) Conventions, in Geneva from 30th April to 1st May, 2025.

The High-Level Segment of the BRS COPs features ministerial roundtables and interactive dialogues focused on collaborative global action.

The theme of this year’s high-level segment is “Make visible the invisible: Sound management of chemicals and wastes.”

Key Interventions and Bilateral Engagements

At the ministerial roundtable on ‘Means of Implementation’, Mr Yadav highlighted that the effective execution of the BRS Conventions relies significantly on access to finance, technology transfer, capacity-building, technical assistance, and strengthened international cooperation.

He outlined India’s integrated approach to implementing the conventions through national legislation such as the Environment (Protection) Act, the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, and the E-Waste Management Rules, 2016, which are supported by sustained investments in institutional and technical infrastructure.

On the sidelines of the COPs, Minister Yadav participated in a consultation meeting organised by Norway on the work of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on Plastic Pollution.

He apprised participants of India’s domestic initiatives, such as the ban on identified single-use plastic items and the implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for plastic packaging.

Mr Yadav further underlined India’s pioneering role in international environmental governance under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, highlighting that India introduced a resolution on single use plastics at UNEA-4, bringing the issue to the center of global discourse.

During the bilateral meeting with Ms. Katrin Schneeberger, Director of the Federal Office for the Environment, Switzerland, Mr Yadav discussed matters related to the development of a legally binding international instrument on plastic pollution, and India’s support for the establishment of a Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals and Waste, as mandated by UNEA resolutions.