On 14 May 2025, the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers adopted a new Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law, the first international legally binding instrument to address environmental crime.
At the 2025 BRS COPs, a side event highlighted the transformative potential of digital platforms like InforMEA in advancing sustainable development goals (SDGs) through enhanced cooperation and information exchange.
In a step toward integrated global environmental action, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) hosted the first GEF–MEA Exchange on the margins of the 2025 Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (BRS) COPs in Geneva.
At the 2025 BRS COPs, a side event focused on mercury in products, including mercury waste, a typical area of synergies between the Minamata and Basel Conventions.
Highlights from the high-level side event “Integrating chemicals and waste management into biodiversity conservation – the power of synergies” at the 2025 BRS COPs.
Executive Secretary Monika Stankiewicz participated in the Environment Management Group (EMG) High-Level Roundtable, held during the 2025 BRS COPs under the theme “Strengthening action for change: Advancing integrated solutions for the implementation of the BRS Conventions.”
At the 2025 BRS COPs side event, global leaders highlighted the urgent need for a unified science-policy platform to tackle chemicals, waste, and pollution.
The Minamata Convention on Mercury launches a new “Focus Areas” section on its website, offering Parties, stakeholders, and the public a more intuitive and data-oriented way to engage with the Convention’s core areas of work.
The Women’s Caucus is a space for advancing the equality and empowerment of women within the implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
Parties, Indigenous Peoples and local community organizations, and relevant stakeholders are invited to submit inputs to the draft supplemental guidance by the end of April.
Mercury scientists gathered in Minamata, Japan, to examine how the Minamata Convention is contributing to the protection of human health and the ecosystem from mercury.
From February to November 2025, the fifth season will feature webinars on implementation review, mercury science and preparation for the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-6).