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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.
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.
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.
OAKLAND, CA—April 17, 2019—The consumer protection group As You Sow filed a lawsuit today against Amazon.com (Amazon) under California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, commonly referred to as Proposition 65. The lawsuit alleges that Amazon has knowingly exposed consumers to mercury by allowing mercury-laden, skin-lightening creams to be sold through its website without ensuring consumers receive the legally required warnings.
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.
“Over 100 countries around the world have so far guaranteed their citizens the right to a healthy and clean environment; however, the enforcement part of such initiatives has been a challenge,” – Arnold Kreilhuber, Deputy Director of the Law Division, UN Environment.
According to the latest data from Global Witness, at least 4 environmental defenders are killed every week
Charito Elcano turned 60 this year, a milestone in a life fraught with ups and downs, challenges and opportunities and – in her case – tragedy. A tragedy that took the life of her brother and son and made her a fierce advocate for non-mercury small-scale gold mining.
The overall goal of the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership is to protect human health and the environment from the releases of mercury.