The second United Nations Environment Assembly took place in Nairobi this past week of May. I and ISWA Vice President Carlos da Silva Filho attended, he for three days while I was there only one day.
ISWA was invited to speak in three sessions, one specifically dedicated to waste and you can read my rather angry speech on this website; the other two were on business models and human rights where Carlos spoke.
At the same time the Assembly was debating a new resolution on chemicals and waste which called upon nations to increase their spending and raise political awareness around pollution from chemicals and waste, reinforcing the conventions of Basle, Rotterdam and Stockholm. Once this text is public, we will circulate it.
Waste was high on the agenda of the Assembly and in all the side events. Walking around the stands of organisations and companies present in the exhibition area, I was struck by how many dealt with waste issues, albeit from a developing country perspective. The reading of this is how producing energy, even at a local level, is key to resolving waste issues like collection and dumping.
One organisation makes fuels from waste to heat village ovens, thus providing cooking and hot water to everyone without cutting down trees. Another is working on paying people to bring their clean, segregated waste (a model we saw in Thailand) to collection points for resale on local and international markets, including local energy markets.
I think we are seeing something of a revolution happening. It is in its early stages but the trend seems clear: where there is growing demand for energy even at a local level, waste can provide small, incremental value chains that can answer that market demand.
We think of Africa as a hot continent, but actually in the higher areas, like Nairobi, very cool night temperatures create a demand for heat. So does communal cooking and the need to sterilise the drinking water by boiling it.
These markets are still in their early stages but if we were to help them along with some investments, get the corrupt politicians out of the way, leave people to regulate themselves, then we may see waste becoming a primary source of local energy supplies sometime in the not too distant future.
One personal note: our dear friend Surendra Shrestha, the Director of UNEP IETC, will be retiring in June and returning to his native Nepal to farm. I wish him every happiness and success there. UNEA2 was an inspiring meeting place for those hoping for a cleaner Planet and I thank the UNEA President, Madame Oyun Sanjaasuren of Mongolia who many of you will recall from our Antwerp congress, for our invitations.
