Five years have passed since the Minamata Convention on Mercury entered into force on 16 August 2017. Although the convention itself is young, it builds on a long history of scientific efforts to understand and manage the risk of mercury, a toxic substance.

Recognizing the sector was estimated to be a major source of mercury emissions and releases, the Partnership Advisory Group decided at its tenth meeting (November 2019) to initiate work on mercury from non-ferrous metals mining and smelting, which it had identified as a cross-cutting topic amongst several Partnership areas.

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is crucial to the livelihood of millions of people in over 80 countries, mainly in rural areas with limited alternative economic prospects. ASGM is increasingly recognized as an opportunity to alleviate poverty and contribute to local, national, and regional development.

The Asia-Pacific Annual Webinar on Mercury Science 2021 held on 21 and 26 October 2021 provided latest update on the progress of the project for “promoting the Minamata Convention on Mercury by making the most of Japan's knowledge and experiences” implemented by the UNEP Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP). In light of the high level interest from participants in the forthcoming project activity on laboratory proficiency testing on mercury, UNEP ROAP is extending the invitation for expression of interest to mercury laboratories outside the Asia-Pacific region.

Masami Ogata is a survivor of Minamata Disease, a debilitating illness caused by industrial mercury poisoning, which originated in the Japanese town of the same name in the 1950s. As a UN conference on preventing future poisoning outbreaks gets underway, we hear Mr. Ogata’s story. As a storyteller at the Minamata Disease Municipal Museum, Mr. Ogata helps to keep alive the memory of what is considered to be one of the most serious Japanese pollution incidents of the Twentieth Century.

The first segment of the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP-4) is taking place from 1 to 5 November 2021 online.

In the late 1950s, people and animals in the Japanese fishing village of Minamata began to fall ill to a strange disease, which mainly affects the central nervous system. In severe cases, victims fell into a coma and died within weeks. Researchers later found that high levels of methylmercury, the most toxic form of mercury, in the industrial wastewater from a chemical factory was the cause of the disease and named it Minamata disease.

In August 2017, one of the world’s most recent environmental accords came into force: The Minamata Convention on Mercury.

Across Myanmar, artisanal miners hunt for gold flecks in rivers and pit mines. The work is physically taxing and the income meagre. For many, the sprinkling of particles they find will only offer a few extra dollars of daily income.

The Minamata Convention on Mercury is an international treaty designed to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds. The year 2020 is a milestone for the Convention – it is when parties are required to cease the manufacture, import and export of many mercury-containing products listed in the Convention. Monika Stankiewicz, Executive Secretary of the Convention, reflects on its impact.

By 2020 the manufacture, import and export of mercury-added products is no longer allowed Parties agreed on a framework to monitor the effectiveness of the Convention in order to strengthen its implementation The Third meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury took place from 25 to 29 November in Geneva, Switzerland

Mercury—a toxic heavy metal that can cause serious and lasting health problems—turns up in many places that you wouldn’t expect. It has now been more than two years since the entry into force of the Minamata Convention, a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury. But the production of many mercury-containing products continues around the globe.

In July, a 47-year-old woman showed up at the emergency department of her local hospital in Sacramento, California. Her speech was slurred, she couldn’t walk, and she was unable to feel her hands or face. The woman soon fell into a coma, where she remained for several weeks. The cause of the woman’s desperate condition, health officials soon discovered, was a skin-lightening ingredient—mercury—that had been illegally mixed into her pot of face cream.

While the health risks are well-known, mercury emissions by humans continue to increase. You can make a difference, actions such as recycling electronics, responsibly using clean energy and avoiding gold mined with mercury can help people and the planet.

Gold is one of the world’s most valuable metals, used in everything from electronics to dentistry. But do you know where yours comes from? 20% of gold comes from artisanal and small-scale miners, who often work illegally using toxic chemicals, such as mercury. The Minamata Convention is working to promote mercury-free mining that helps workers and the planet.

Two years ago, on 16 August 2017, the Minamata Convention on Mercury – a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from human-induced emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds – came into force. Annually, as much as 9,000 tons of mercury are released into the atmosphere, in water and on land. The largest source of these emissions is artisanal and small-scale gold mining, followed closely by coal combustion, non-ferrous metal production and cement production.

Deep inside the layers of ice sitting atop the Andes Mountains in Peru is evidence of the earliest human-caused air pollution. Within the core of the 1,200-year-old Quelccaya Ice Cap, scientists have found traces of lead and mercury, the chemicals used after the Spanish occupation, in the silver mines of Potosi, Bolivia.

The artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector accounts for 20 per cent of the world's annual gold production New $60-million initiative will improve conditions for artisanal miners in Mongolia and the Philippines, while slashing harmful mercury emissions As many as 15 million people work in the ASGM sector globally – including 4.5 million women and over 600,000 children The ASGM sector is the single largest source of man-made mercury emissions, responsible for the release of as muc

The artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector accounts for 20 per cent of the world's annual gold production The ASGM sector is the single largest source of man-made mercury emissions, responsible for the relea

“People are not living here, they are only surviving,” says Father Maurizio Binaghi as he surveys the sprawling, smoking Dandora landfill site from an elevated position on the grounds of the school he runs in Korogocho slum in Nairobi, Kenya. Dandora is one of Africa’s largest unregulated landfill sites. “The people who live near the dump have a saying,” says Father Binaghi: “‘I don’t know when I will die, but I do know what I will die from.’”

Second meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP2) is taking place from 19 to 23 November 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland Rising mercury emissions place pressure on international community to scale up action to tackle mercury, according to upcoming report 15 million miners exposed to mercury through its use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining in over 70 countries Geneva, 22 November 2018 – Almost 150 countries, 94 of them Parties to

One year ago, on 16 August 2017, the Minamata Convention on Mercury – a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds – came into force.

The eastern highlands of the Democratic Republic of the Congo make up the country’s highest and most rugged region. It is home to a series of mountains 80 to 560 km wide, extending from the Rwenzori Mountain in northeastern Congo through the Virunga volcanic ranges to the Mitumba Mountains.

A worker holds gold amalgamated with mercury, which will be burned off at a later stage. (Duncan Moore/UN Environment)Driving through the rolling hills and farming villages of western Kenya’s Kakamega County, it’s apparent why the region is known as the country’s green jewel.

We tend to associate polar regions with vast stretches of white ice. Yet we rarely think of the permafrost - a layer of soil or bedrock that has been continuously frozen for years. By thawing permafrost in the Arctic, climate change is not only freeing vast amounts of carbon dioxide and other gases into the atmosphere. It could also stand to release another harmful substance into our air and waters.