Intersessional work and Submissions for COP-6

Decision MC-5/1

Noting with concern that Indigenous Peoples, as well as local communities, are particularly vulnerable to mercury exposure and are among the first to face the serious health and environmental effects resulting from mercury pollution owing to their close relationship with the environment and its resources, and welcoming the role of Indigenous Peoples, as well as local communities, and particularly the engagement of women and girls, who have faced the effects of mercury with resilience, in achieving the objective of the Minamata Convention and the targets and goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the COP noted the importance of broadening participation of Indigenous Peoples, as well as local communities, in the implementation of projects and programmes undertaken under the Minamata Convention and encouraged parties to support, as appropriate, participation of Indigenous Peoples’ organizations, as well as local communities and other relevant stakeholders, in meetings of the Conference of the Parties, and in other related processes.

The Secretariat is currently seeking to enlarge its network and improve the active engagement of Indigenous Peoples, as well as local communities, in implementation of projects and programmes undertaken under the Minamata Convention and to prepare a report on the needs and priorities of Indigenous Peoples and local communities with regard to the effects of mercury on their health, livelihoods, culture and knowledge.

Decision MC-5/2

The Secretariat is carrying out the following activities to implement the above-mentioned decision in 2024:

Thanks to the generous contribution of the EU and Spain, the Secretariat is developing guidance to assist parties in identifying, managing and reducing mercury trade from primary mercury mining.

EU funds are also enabling the Secretariat to support Parties in better understanding the trade provisions, their interrelation with other articles of the Convention, and the use of trade forms through online webinars and resources to be developed with partners such as UN System Staff College, InforMEA and the World Customs Organization.

The Secretariat is currently fundraising to draft an update to the existing guidance on stocks adopted in decision MC-1/2 to include types of action that could be taken to fulfil the continuing obligation to endeavour to identify stocks and sources.

In decision MC-5/2 on mercury supply sources and trade, COP-5 invited Parties to submit to the Secretariat, by 25 March 2025, information on experiences and challenges faced in the implementation of Article 3 as well as information on activities undertaken in relation to the Bali Declaration on combating illegal trade in mercury to be compiled by the Secretariat for consideration by COP-6. Submissions are welcome at mea-minamatasecretariat [at] un.org.  

Study of the global supply, production, trade and use of mercury compounds (decision MC-5/3)

Thanks to the generous contribution of Canada, the Secretariat has started the development of the above-mentioned study to be completed by the end of 2024.

Cosmetics (Decision MC-5/5)

The Executive Secretary sent a letter to Parties and observers to invite the submission of information by 30 June 2024 using the submission format. The submissions received have been uploaded here. A consultant is working with WHO and UNEP to draft a report, which will be posted on this page in early 2025 for comments

Vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) production (Decision MC-5/6)

Parties and relevant organizations are invited to submit, on a voluntary basis, information on technically and economically feasible alternatives to the use of mercury and mercury compounds in vinyl chloride monomer production, in accordance with Paragraph 8 of Article 5 and Paragraph 1 of Article 17 of the Convention, by 31 March 2025. Submitted information will be posted on this page.

Those Parties who have notified the Secretariat pursuant to Article 7.3 and have not yet submitted their ASGM National Action Plan are invited to do so at their earliest convenience. Submitted NAPs are published here. Those Parties who have submitted a National Action Plan are reminded of the obligation to provide a review every three years of the progress made in implementing obligations under Article 7 and to include such reviews in reports submitted pursuant to Article 21. The deadline for the next full national reports is 31 December 2025.

The Secretariat was requested by the COP to develop supplemental NAP guidance on the effective engagement and participation of Indigenous Peoples, local communities and other stakeholders in the development and implementation of NAPs. Parties, Indigenous Peoples, local communities and other stakeholders and stakeholders will be invited, in 2024, to provide information that can inform the development of the supplemental guidance.

Parties with experience in using the guidance adopted by the COP pursuant to Article 8 (8) and (9) are encouraged to provide the Secretariat with information on such experience. Submissions will be posted on this web page. Information submitted by 31 March 2025 will be compiled for COP-6.

Parties are invited to submit information regarding their waste management regulations and programmes as mentioned in Article 11 (3) (a), with a focus on matters not addressed by the technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with mercury or mercury compounds under the Basel Convention, by 31 October 2024. Information submitted will be posted on this website and compiled for COP-6.

Decision MC-14

For the work between COP-4 and COP-5, please visit here.

Effectiveness evaluation Group (EEG)

At its fifth meeting, in decision MC-5/14, the COP established the Effectiveness Evaluation Group (EEG) to work in accordance with the terms of reference outlined in annex I to the decision and agreed to consider the outcome of the first effectiveness evaluation of the Convention at its seventh meeting tentatively scheduled to take place in 2027. In the same decision, the COP adopted the indicators for the first effectiveness evaluation as contained in annex II to the decision.

In accordance with its terms of reference, the EEG is composed of 25 participants from Parties, comprising five representatives of Parties from each of the five United Nations regions, and nominated by the regions. The list of EEG members can be accessed here.

The co-chairs of the Open-ended Scientific Group (see below) and the Chair of the Implementation and Compliance Committee will be invited to participate in the EEG as observers. Moreover, five observers from developed and developing countries will also be invited, drawing from civil society, Indigenous organizations, local community organizations, intergovernmental organizations, industry and the Global Mercury Partnership, to contribute to the work of the EEG. Additional observers may be invited on an ad hoc basis.

The Effectiveness Evaluation Group will work online and will hold up to two face-to-face meetings. The first meeting of the Effectiveness Evaluation Group was held online on 25 June 2024. During the first meeting, the EEG elected its co-Chairs: Ms. Itsuki Kuroda, from Japan, and Mr. Linroy Christian, from Antigua and Barbuda, and agreed on a tentative timeline for the work to be carried out during the current intersessional period, including tentative dates for meetings, milestones and review by Parties.

The second and third meetings of the EEG will take place online on 4 September and 5 December 2024, respectively.

The documents for the EEG meetings are available through its online workspace.

Open-Ended Scientific Group

The Open-Ended Scientific Group was established pursuant to Decision  MC-4/11. The current list of OESG members and experts in the roster to contribute to its work is available here. Parties that have not nominated a member may wish to submit a nomination by sending the nomination form to the Secretariat. Parties and stakeholders may also wish to nominate experts to the roster by completing an online form, or using the same nomination form available above  . 

The OESG has developed plans for its work to develop data summaries, and called for expressions of intent to provide mercury monitoring, emission and releases data from parties and stakeholders. The Secretariat has received 106 expressions of interest as of May 2024. 

The Secretariat has made a contract with the Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) to establish a data repository and to receive and compile the data. On behalf of the OESG, BRI is reaching out to the contact points indicated in the expressions of intent to invite the submission of data to the repository, together with a data use authorization form in which submitters may specify the condition of data use as appropriate.  

The OESG, noting the current data gap, renewed its call for expression of interest to submit data. Parties and stakeholders are encouraged to submit their expression of interest through an online form is preparing to collect these data, as well as to call for additional expressions of intent. 

In relation to the collection and analysis of mercury emissions and releases data, the Secretariat is organizing a global workshop on comparability of mercury emission and release data, with the financial support from the European Union. The concept note is available here. Although the nomination of sponsored participants has been closed, self-funded participants may register using the registration form.

Gender action plan (decision MC-5/15)

Parties and stakeholders are invited to engage in priority activities of the Gender Action Plan for the 2024-2025 biennium.

The Secretariat is carrying out the following priority activities as part of the implementation of the Gender action Plan for the 2024-2025 biennium:

On the occasion of International Women's Day, the Secretariat organized the first webinar of the 2024 Minamata Online series on the theme “Mainstreaming gender in capacity-building projects: practical approaches”. This webinar showcased how gender considerations are integrated by the Specific International Programme, the Global Environment Facility and the Special Programme on Institutional Strengthening for the Chemicals Cluster into application criteria for funding, application guidelines, project applications, reporting forms and project evaluation processes. The delivery of the webinar is one of the priority activities for this biennium under the Minamata Convention Gender Action Plan.

Thanks to the generous support of Finland, the Secretariat is also planning the delivery of two other gender priority activities in 2024: the review of gender elements in existing national action plans and the development of case studies on the gender dimensions of projects funded by the SIP.

In decision MC-5/17, the COP encouraged Parties and invited other Governments and local and subnational governments, as well as relevant organizations and stakeholders, as appropriate, to:

• Promote research on the impacts of mercury on biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services;
• Reflect national mercury reduction and control targets in their revised or updated national biodiversity strategies and action plans to align with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework;
• Share the experience gained to promote coordination and integration of biodiversity- and mercury-related priorities through policy development and implementation, including lessons learned and challenges faced;
• Disseminate information on actions that can generate co‑benefits for the Minamata Convention and the Kunming‑Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

The Secretariat was requested to support parties and other stakeholders in sharing their experience and to compile and synthesize the information gathered and prepare a draft road map, including possible actions and indicators, to support parties in demonstrating and maximizing the co-benefits arising from the implementation of the Minamata Convention and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, for consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its sixth meeting.

Accordingly, during the second quarter of 2024, the Secretariat is planning to invite Parties, other Governments, local and subnational governments, organizations and other stakeholders to share their experience with a view to preparing a first draft of the road map by end of September 2024.