Case 191 - Hazardous Waste Trade, North and South: The Case of Italy and Koko, Nigeria

Olsen, Jennifer and Thomas Princen

During the 1980s, Africans became increasingly aware of the dumping of hazardous waste on their continent. Just as many African countries began calling for a ban on such trade, an illegal toxic dump was discovered in the small port town of Koko, Nigeria, in 1988. This case study describes the diplomatic pressure put on Italy, the main source of the waste, by Nigeria and international environmental groups. It also describes how the Koko incident became a catalyst for the negotiations leading to the Basel Convention, an international treaty governing the transboundary movement of hazardous waste.