the toxic truth - Greenpeace
the toxic truth - Greenpeace
the toxic truth - Greenpeace
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<strong>the</strong> <strong>toxic</strong> <strong>truth</strong><br />
4Victims fAiled<br />
by All stAtes<br />
The events in this report were truly<br />
transnational in nature. The <strong>toxic</strong> waste<br />
was generated by a multinational company,<br />
Trafigura, when it decided to carry out caustic<br />
washing at sea in <strong>the</strong> Mediterranean region<br />
with full knowledge that <strong>the</strong> waste that it<br />
would produce was dangerous. The company<br />
<strong>the</strong>n tried to offload and get <strong>the</strong> <strong>toxic</strong> waste<br />
processed in <strong>the</strong> Ne<strong>the</strong>rlands. When it<br />
considered that it was too expensive to<br />
process <strong>the</strong> waste in <strong>the</strong> Ne<strong>the</strong>rlands, <strong>the</strong><br />
company wrongfully exported <strong>the</strong> <strong>toxic</strong> waste<br />
out of <strong>the</strong> Ne<strong>the</strong>rlands and European Union<br />
to Africa. It contracted a company, Tommy, in<br />
Côte d’Ivoire, that lacked <strong>the</strong> qualifications or<br />
expertise to process <strong>toxic</strong> waste.<br />
The generation, transport and dumping of<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>toxic</strong> waste spanned <strong>the</strong> world and <strong>the</strong><br />
waste was transported by Trafigura from <strong>the</strong><br />
Mediterranean to <strong>the</strong> Ne<strong>the</strong>rlands, to Estonia,<br />
to Nigeria and to Côte d’Ivoire. The effects of<br />
this illegal transport of <strong>the</strong> waste by Trafigura<br />
and <strong>the</strong> dumping of <strong>the</strong> <strong>toxic</strong> waste by Tommy,<br />
<strong>the</strong> agents of Trafigura, were borne by <strong>the</strong><br />
people of Abidjan whose rights to health,<br />
including a healthy environment, and work<br />
were abused as a result.<br />
The Basel Convention was created to prevent<br />
exactly this kind of conduct and effects. The<br />
Convention is meant to create a regime of<br />
international standards and cooperation<br />
between states that can prevent <strong>the</strong> illegal<br />
transboundary movement of hazardous waste.<br />
This report highlights how a multinational<br />
company was able to circumvent this regime<br />
by exploiting loopholes in enforcement<br />
and laws in different countries. The report<br />
describes <strong>the</strong> failure of various states to<br />
implement <strong>the</strong>ir obligations both to prevent<br />
<strong>the</strong> illegal transboundary movement and<br />
dumping of <strong>toxic</strong> waste and to protect <strong>the</strong><br />
right to health of people who were ultimately<br />
impacted by <strong>the</strong> dumping of <strong>the</strong> waste.<br />
171<br />
Chapter 14