El Convenio de Minamata en la Conferencia de la ONU sobre Biodiversidad 2024

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.