Third meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP-3)

This event aims to raise awareness among Parties and others about the opportunities and challenges presented by mercury-contaminated sites and the importance of addressing them to reduce global mercury pollution levels. It will present information about the state of mercury-contaminated sites globally, those that present some of the greatest risks, challenges and health impacts, as well as emerging technologies to address challenging sites such as active ASGM locations. Strategies to address primary mercury mining which is on the rise in some countries, will also be discussed with specific examples. In addition, it is anticipated that information will be presented on funding opportunities for the Parties to address contaminated sites within the framework of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

The burning of coal is one of the largest single anthropogenic sources of mercury air emissions. Although coal contains only small concentrations of mercury, it is burnt in very large volumes. And despite a growing number of countries moving away from coal, its global demand is expected to remain steady over the next 5 years at least. Up to 95% of mercury releases from power plants can however be reduced, by improving coal and plant performance and optimizing control systems for other pollutants.

Through this side event, the Global Mercury Partnership - Coal Combustion Area, will offer COP3 attendees - of both technical and non-technical background - a snapshot on the situation of mercury from coal burning. With a particular focus on applicability and costs, the event will provide hands-on state of the art knowledge and science on mercury monitoring, cost-effective control measures and abatement technologies. It will also feature national perspectives, with speakers presenting on the latest developments of the sector. Finally, participants will be invited to exchange with national and international experts through a participatory Q&A session.

The Secretariat of the Minamata Convention is convening a special session on mercury science, with funding from the Government of Japan. For the planning of the session, the Secretariat consulted with Prof. Jozef Pacyna, chair of the International Conference on Mercury as Global Pollutants held in Krakow, Poland in September 2019, and invited the following speakers.

• Mr. Nil Basu, McGill University, Canada
• Ms. Milena Horvat, Jožef Stefan Institute, Slovenia
• Ms. Joy Leaner, Western Cape Government, South Africa
• Mr. Olaf Malm, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Mr. Jozef Pacyna, AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland
• Mr. Mineshi Sakamoto, National Institute for Minamata Disease, Japan

18:15 Dangerous, mercury-laden and often illegal skin lightening products: readily available for (online) purchase
Michael Bender, MPP/ZMWG
Shahriar Hossain, ESDO, Bangladesh

18:29 Enforcement measures to restrict high mercury cosmetic products under the Minamata Convention
Elena Lymberidi-Settimo, EEB/ZMWG,
Jam Lorenzo, Ban Toxics, Philippines
Griffins Ochieng, CEJAD, Kenya

18:43 Outreach to affected communities
Amira Adawe, The Beautywell Project

18:50 Questions & Anwsers
19:00 Closure

Development of National Action Plans (NAPs) for artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is an obligation under Article 7 of the Minamata Convention for each Party that determines that mercury use in ASGM in its territory is “more than insignificant”. Recognizing that the ASGM sector is closely linked to complex economic, social and environmental issues, the Convention allows flexible, country-specific solutions through the development of NAP to reduce and where feasible eliminate mercury use in the ASGM sector. Till date, 35 countries have embarked on the development of a NAP. Several of them have already completed or are about to endorse and submit their NAP to the Secretariat of the Minamata Convention.

The side event will present the global status and progress made on the NAP development. It will highlight the challenges that national teams have encountered during such process and discuss possible solutions to overcome them, including with respect to the future NAP implementation. The event will be organized around key issues and strategies of NAPs, including for example: i) developing a national overview of the ASGM sector, ii) developing formalization strategies, iii) developing public health strategy, and/or iv) managing mercury trade regionally. Further, it will feature a discussion on paving the road towards implementation, including with respect to mobilizing financial resources, leveraging political will and inter-ministerial coordination. The audience will have an opportunity to share their experiences and questions through an online polling tool.

Objectives:

• Inform participants on the intersessional process (IP) for SAICM and the sound management of chemicals and waste beyond 2020 and the journey towards the fifth session of the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM5)
   
• Moderate a discussion on strengthening coordination and engagement for the sound management of chemicals and waste beyond 2020 in response to the SAICM independent evaluation and in line with the 2030 Agenda.

This event aims to support the Minamata Convention delegates in their discussion on effectiveness evaluation and the establishment of the evaluation framework by presenting the scientific background of the report of the ad hoc expert group on mercury monitoring. Key leading scientists, who were involved with drafting the report, will provide more detailed descriptions about the suggested approaches.

Peru is the sixth gold producing country in the world and the second in the Latin American region. Despite the ASGM activity represents around 12% of the total gold production in Peru, this activity is responsible of more than one third of the total emissions and releases of mercury to the environment.

Controlling and reducing these issues represents one of the biggest challenges to accomplish with the Minamata Convention goals, since ASGM situation in Peru is extremely complex: there are different types of mining (alluvial and philonian mining) and processes to obtain gold, as well as different institutional arrangements; some of which obstruct the adoption of alternative and more efficient technologies compared to mercury.

The national experience promoting free-mercury and clean technologies in this activity have shown that does not exist a single recipe to this problem.

Minamata Convention on mercury has served as a platform to boost national actions to address mercury use in the ASGM and to strengthen the formalization process of miners. Nevertheless, in doing so, Peru has struggled with different challenges and has experienced particular cases that can contribute to the way this problem is being approached internationally.

Background

The Minamata Convention on Mercury has provided “us” the opportunity for a comprehensive and coordinated approach to reducing mercury use in the ASGM sector - the world’s largest Hg-consumer and emitter.

This knowledge lab will present how electronic tools can effectively support the effectiveness evaluation under the Minamata Convention and how to reach wider audience and broad range of stakeholders.

List of Presenters:

• Ms. Katerina Sebkova  (registered as CZ delegation)
• Ms. Ana-Maria Witt - BRS Secretariat, Geneva
• Ms. Katarina Magulova - BRS Secretariat, Geneva
• Prof. Martin Scheringer - RECETOX, Masaryk University