Biodiversity COP16

Minamata Convention at UN Biodiversity COP-16

Cali, Colombia, 21 Oct 2024 - 01 Nov 2024
    Meeting Information

    The sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-16) will take place from 21 October to 1 November 2024  in Cali, Colombia.

    Under the theme "Peace With Nature", COP-16 will be the first Biodiversity COP since the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) at COP-15 in December 2022 in Montreal, Canada. Parties to the Convention will review the progress made to implement GBF, and assess the alignment of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans with the GBF.

    The fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP-5) in November 2023 acknowledged mercury pollution as a direct driver of global biodiversity loss and recognized the opportunities for the implementation of both the Minamata Convention and the GBF in a mutually supportive way.  COP-5 urged the integration of mercury action into biodiversity projects, the promotion of research on mercury's impact, and the alignment of mercury reduction in national strategies with the GBF. It also noted the absence of indicators for highly hazardous chemicals in the Kunming-Montreal's monitoring framework, and encouraged information dissemination and improved coherence among environmental agreements.

    Executive Secretary of the Minamata Convention Monika Stankiewicz stated: "At COP-5 our Parties have taken a significant step towards mainstreaming pollution and biodiversity by adopting a decision on mercury and the Global Biodiversity Framework. The Minamata Convention, other multilateral environmental agreements and the GBF must unite our efforts to protect people and nature. Together, we can achieve our common goal of a healthier planet for everyone".

    This page highlights the activities of the Minamata Convention Secretariat at COP-16, along with other relevant information about the Convention and its role in helping protect biodiversity.

    Mercury Pollution and Biodiversity: Contribution of the Minamata Convention on Mercury to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (CBD/COP/16/INF/21)

    This report summarizes the relevant decisions from the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury, held in November 2023, as well as recent work under the Convention to help reduce the impacts of mercury pollution on biodiversity, particularly in the context of targets 7, 11, 21 and 22 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

    Download the information document here.

    Strengthening partnerships to address mercury pollution and protect biodiversity in the Amazon

    COP-16

    In a recent follow-up to the Human Rights dialogue on protecting the Amazon, the Secretariat of the Minamata Convention on Mercury meet with the Regional Alliance for the Reduction of the Impacts of Gold Mining in the Amazon to tackle the dual challenge of mercury pollution and biodiversity loss in the Amazon region. The discussions focused on protecting biodiversity and reducing the harmful impact of mercury, with a particular focus on Indigenous Peoples and local communities severely affected by mercury exposure.

    The Alliance presented a roadmap for policy action to address illegal mining in the Amazon. The roadmap aims at curbing mercury pollution while fostering sustainable practices that protect the region's rich biodiversity and the rights and health of its communities.

    Executive Secretary of the Minamata Convention, Monika Stankiewicz, expressed her appreciation to the Alliance for their collaborative effort: "It is inspiring to see so many organizations dedicated to addressing mercury pollution in the Amazon. Your valuable experience from the ground can help us to demonstrate how biodiversity conservation links with the well-being of communities and how mercury pollution can undermine both."

    The Secretariat and civil society representatives also explored next steps for collaboration and engagement in the work of the Minamata Convention and leading up to its sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-6) in November 2025.

    The Regional Alliance for the Reduction of the Impacts of Gold Mining in the Amazon is an interconnected, cross-border, and multi-stakeholder effort to research ways to manage the impacts resulting from mining in the Amazon Biome and the effects of mercury contamination. This alliance is conformed of the following civil society organizations: Gaia Amazonas Foundation, Frankfurt Zoological Society Colombia and Peru, WWF Brazil and Colombia, FCDS, CINCIA and Fiocruz Brazil, and Colombia’s National Park authority.

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    Meeting with Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)

    Monika meeting with ECLAC

    On 28 October, in the framework of COP-16, Executive Secretary of the Minamata Convention Monika Stankiewicz met with the Executive Secretary of Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, and the officer in charge of ECLAC's Sustainable Development and Human Settlements Division, Carlos de Miguel. 

    Their discussion focused on common ground between the Escazú Agreement and the Minamata Convention on access to information and public participation, and how ECLAC can contribute regional knowledge and research to the Convention. 

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    Ocean Day: Impacts of mercury pollution on fisheries and livelihoods

    Ocean Day

    Sunday 27 October marks Ocean Day of COP-16, highlighting the vital role of oceans in the ecosystem and their importance to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

    When released to the ocean, mercury, in its highly toxic form of methylmercury, can accumulate in the food web and cause severe harm to biodiversity and ocean life. Explore the effects of mercury pollution on the ocean, particularly on fish populations, and learn the social, economic and biological costs associated with this contamination with our publication "The socio-economic impacts of mercury pollution on fisheries and livelihoods".

    Subtitled "Exploring how a natural capital approach may support the implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury", read the full publication here.

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    Trade Day: Regulating mercury trade to help make peace with nature

    Trade Day

    On 26 October, COP-16 focuses on international trade, an indispensable component of global economy that must be aligned to the objectives of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) to halt nature loss, restore biodiversity and help countries achieve their sustainable social and economic objectives.

    Regulating mercury trade has been an essential focus of the Minamata Convention. Collaborative efforts of governments and civil society have led to a reduction in global mercury trade in the last years. However, the illegal trade of mercury, particularly for the purpose of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM), remains a significant concern and has not been adequately quantified.

    During a visit to the Philippines in early June, the Secretariat of the Minamata Convention conducted a mercury trade workshop, facilitating knowledge sharing among government officials and miner representatives on managing mercury trade, combining efforts to combat the non-regulated trade, in alignment with the Convention and ASGM National Action Plans.

    Watch the video here and read our fact sheet on mercury trade.

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    Dialogue with the Minamata Convention Secretariat: Mercury contamination in the Amazon Basin

    COP-16 Colombia
    © IISD ENB

    On 24 October, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) organized an in-person dialogue during COP-16 to address the need for joint action to protect the Amazon from the harmful effects of mercury and to support biodiversity conservation through a human rights lens.

    The dialogue brought together representatives of civil society from countries such as Colombia, Brazil and Peru to share experiences, needs and opportunities in connection with mercury pollution, biodiversity and human rights, in line with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which emphasizes a rights-based approach to environmental protection.

    The Secretariat of the Minamata Convention provided an overview of the work of actors under the treaty, with a special focus on Indigenous Peoples, artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) and vulnerable ecosystems. The dialogue with the participating organizations, which were invited by the Amazonian Alliance for Reducing the Impacts of Gold Mining (AARIMO), was conducted primarily in Spanish, fostering potential collaborations and highlighting the key role that civil society can play in shaping and implementing policies to tackle mercury pollution.

    Learn more about the Convention's focus on Indigenous Peoples and local communities here.

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    Biodiversity and Health Day: Interlinkages between ecosystems and human well-being

    A girl touching the tree

    The Biodiversity and Health Day at COP-16 raises awareness about their crucial interlinkages, with biodiversity providing ecosystem goods and services that are fundamental for sustaining human health and well-being.   

    One of the top 10 chemicals of major public health concern according to the World Health Organization (WHO), mercury is a highly hazardous chemical that impacts biodiversity and the environment. From human-made sources, mercury accumulates in many ecosystems. This chemical bioaccumulates and biomagnifies throughout the food chain, leading to detrimental impacts on biodiversity, and ultimately harming human consumers with large quantities of mercury being ingested. 

    Minimizing mercury use is essential for improving global health, an effort that requires the involvement of all sectors of government and civil society to ensure its integration into the development and implementation of national policies and strategies. The Minamata Convention on Mercury supports its Parties in their work to control, reduce and eliminate mercury across all its life-stages, with the ultimate goal of protecting both human health and the environment.  

    Learn more about the harmful impacts of mercury on human health here.

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    Education Day: Promoting youth-led and youth-focused initiatives

    Children learning knowledge on mercury
    © planetGOLD

    23 October is the Education Day at the COP-16's Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework Pavilion. This day will bring together global experts to clarify goals, activities, timelines, resource requirements and potential partners to advance biodiversity education and highlight its critical importance for implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework. 

    Amplifying youth voices from around the globe is key to both make peace with nature and make mercury history. The Secretariat of the Minamata Convention is developing tangible pathways for stronger youth engagement within the Convention framework, including promoting youth-led and youth-focused initiatives that are part of the solution to tackle toxic mercury, whether by raising public awareness about its dangers or through projects dedicated to reducing its pollution. 
     
    Currently, youth initiatives include The Youth Dialogue (YD) of the Ministry of the Environment, Japan, which fosters discussions among young people to share their experiences with mercury and learn from each other, as well as multiple planetGOLD projects in countries such as Indonesia, Mongolia, Peru and Colombia, which aim to break the intergenerational cycle of mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) activities. 

    Learn more about how to get involved here

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    NBSAP Day: Connecting mercury reduction to biodiversity goals

    Mercury and biodiversity

    On 22 October, COP-16 focused on National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), key instruments for countries to set targets, prioritize actions and align policies to better protect our planet. This day brought together stakeholders to share progress and experiences for advancing NBSAP implementation, including the role of the Minamata Convention on Mercury and the impact of its National Action Plans (NAPs) on safeguarding biodiversity.

    The publication Mercury and biodiversity underscores the importance and potential for mutually supportive implementation of the Minamata Convention and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, exploring how Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity have integrated mercury-related control measures into their NBSAPs and national reports, as well as how Parties to the Minamata Convention have addressed biodiversity in their NAPs and initial assessments.

    As of 2024, mercury-related risks and impacts to biodiversity have been mentioned in 68% of NAPs for artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM). The impacts cited include deforestation, deterioration of watercourses and aquatic life, land degradation, wildlife decline and undermining of conservation efforts, primarily as a result of ASGM activities and mercury emissions and releases.

    The full report, available in English, French and Spanish, can be accessed here.

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    The Secretariat of the Minamata Convention to participate in the UN Biodiversity COP-16

    South of Cali

    The Secretariat of the Minamata Convention on Mercury will be participating in the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-16) from 21 October to 1 November 2024 in Cali, Colombia. For the Secretariat, this meeting is a major opportunity to underscore the importance of coordinated action to protect global biodiversity, highlighting the Convention’s efforts in reducing mercury pollution, a major threat to both biodiversity and human health, with a special focus on vulnerable populations such as Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

    The fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP-5) in November 2023 acknowledged mercury pollution as a direct driver of global biodiversity loss and recognized the opportunities for the implementation of both the Minamata Convention and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) in a mutually supportive way. Parties also highlighted the value of working across sectors and scales to generate co-benefits and of initiatives like the "Bern meetings" to support synergies.

    Considering that Convention Parties can contribute significantly to biodiversity conservation, COP-5 urged the integration of mercury action into biodiversity projects, the promotion of research on mercury's impact, and the alignment of mercury reduction in national strategies with the GBF. It also noted the absence of indicators for highly hazardous chemicals in the Kunming-Montreal's monitoring framework, and encouraged information dissemination and improved coherence among environmental agreements.

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    Events
    24 October - 13h20-14h20 COT: Contributions of the chemicals and waste agenda to support the Kumming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
    • Up-to-date information here
    • Where: Paramos - NGOs meeting room | Plaza One
    • Topic: Cooperation between MEAs implementation and compliance committees to better address the triple planetary crises
    • Hosts: BRS Conventions | Minamata | Global Framework on Chemicals Sec. | UNEP | UNEP-DELC
    25 October - 08h30-19h00 COT: Forest and Water Day
    Forest Day
    • Up-to-date information here
    • Where: GBF Pavilion | Blue zone, and livestream here
    • Description: As the world turns its eyes toward COP 16 as the platform to focus attention on implementing the ambitious Global Biodiversity Framework, Forest and Water Day will put a spotlight on the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of forests and water-related ecosystems for the successful implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and numerous global commitments.
      The Minamata Convention is co-organizing this day, and will lead the session "Building peace: sustainable use of water-related ecosystems among all stakeholders” (at 15h15 COT) with UN Water, the Convention on Wetlands and the UN Development Programme. This session will focus on connecting the GBF with the daily realities around water use, discussing actions towards conservation and sustainability, and the reduction of impacts on biodiversity. 
    31 October - 08h30-19h00 COT: Cooperation Day
    • Up-to-date information here
    • Where: GBF Pavilion | Blue zone
    • Description: Cooperation Day aims to emphasize the role of cooperation for efficient and effective implementation of the KMGBF and other biodiversity-related objectives. It provides a platform to exchange and learn about ongoing cooperative processes and actions undertaken jointly by governments, stakeholders, international organizations and/or conventions to implement the Framework.
      Cooperation Day will also provide a space for stakeholders who participated in the KMGBF Pavilion and Multistakeholder Auditorium to provide feedback on their respective thematic/stakeholder Days from a whole-of-society and cooperation perspective and will encourage all participants to continue to initiate and promote cooperative and collaborative actions towards the 2030 Mission and 2050 Vision of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
    Newsroom
    Minamata Background
    From the Executive Secretary
    21 Aug 2024

    Contribution of the chemicals and waste conventions to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

    With a view to supporting national implementation across the biodiversity and the chemicals and waste agendas, we are pleased to announce that the Secretariats of the Minamata Convention on Mercury and of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions are organizing an online information session

    Resources

    Explore our resources to learn more about the work of the Minamata Convention on Mercury in protecting biodiversity, including mitigating the impact of this hazardous substance on ecosystems, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities.

     

    Publications

    Infographic

    • Mercury and biodiversity illustrates how toxic mercury accumulates in many ecosystems, such as tropical forests, mangroves, oceans and the Arctic, leading to detrimental impacts on human health and biodiversity around the world (available in all six UN languages).
    • Mercury life-stages shows how mercury flows from supply and trade to use, emissions and releases to storage and waste management through the Convention's operational articles (soon available in all six UN languages).

    COP-5 decisions