417 - Mercury science driving the implementation of the Minamata Convention

"The development and adoption of the Minamata Convention on Mercury was prompted by the scientific understanding that mercury is a chemical of global concern. Article 19 of the Convention provides for cooperation among parties in research, development and monitoring, which provide the basis for policy making and implementation.

Article 19 refers to several scientific areas for parties to cooperate. The first area listed is inventories of use, emissions and releases of mercury. The fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-4) in 2021 and 2022 considered a draft guidance on inventory of mercury releases to land and water developed by a technical expert group. A study on the linkage between chemicals management and climate change, commissioned by the secretariats of four chemicals-related conventions in 2021, points to opportunities for common approaches in greenhouse gas and chemicals inventories.

The second area is modelling and monitoring of mercury in the environment and humans. A draft guidance for monitoring for evaluating the effectiveness of the Convention was presented to COP-4, as well as guidance on environmental monitoring in gold mining sites.

The third area is health, environmental, socio-economic and cultural impact assessment. The Secretariat works on two studies on socio-economic impact assessment of mercury, also addressing the impact on ecosystem services, to be published in 2022.

Another area mentioned in article 19 is technology related to reduction of mercury use in products and processes and mercury releases to the environment. COP-4 considered a report by a technical expert group on products and processes using mercury, as part of the review of the annexes to the Convention which lists products and processes regulated under the Convention.

Towards COP-5 in 2023 and for the effectiveness implementation of the Convention, interface between scientific and policy communities is expected to be enhanced."

Author: Eisaku Toda