The joint clearing-house mechanism is a multi-stakeholder global system that facilitate the exchange of information and expertise relevant for the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions. To achieve such an objective the Secretariat has developed, and is continuously enhancing, a global knowledge base made of information and tools, fed and used by all members of the clearing-house community.
This knowledge base aims at empowering community members with the means to contribute and access up-to-date, quality information related to the work of the conventions, in a transparent, neutral, efficient, and user friendly manner and with strong emphasis on regional delivery. In order to develop and nurture such a knowledge base, the joint clearing-house mechanism programme facilitates or undertakes the identification, collection, management, distribution and exchange of information and expertise to support parties and other stakeholders in the implementation of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions.
At their meetings in 2017, the Conferences of the Parties of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions welcomed the revised joint clearing-house mechanism strategy and requested the Secretariat to start implementing it. The strategy contains a more detailed description of the mechanism and serves as a framework for its implementation.
As most of the information exchanges initiatives, the joint clearing-house mechanism embraces the open data principles and particularly contributes to the following Sustainable Development Goals:
How the joint clearing-house mechanism operates?
The joint clearing-house mechanism is structured by the following three major components:
The scope of information covered by the joint clearing-house mechanism is mainly focused on the following broad categories:
Ongoing activities
The implementation of the joint clearing-house mechanism activities for the biennium 2024–2025 is described in the workplan approved by the Conferences of the Parties at their meeting in May 2023. The ongoing activities are mainly focused on recurring activities and maintenance of existing information tools as outlined in activities 1 to 4 of the workplan.
Thanks to the generous financial support from the European Union and Norway, the implementation of the joint clearing-house mechanism activities is also covering the development of a joint portal on information from regional centres and the development of a central database and a web portal on regional and national initiatives on marine plastic litter and microplastics, include projects from other donors and implementing agencies, as well as information on inventories of plastics waste.
Fundraising efforts for the remaining priority areas are ongoing. Concepts notes for voluntary funded information exchange activities are available on the resource mobilization section of our website.
Joint clearing-house mechanism presentation