Small-scale gold mining, methylmercury and a Kumamoto signature: the Minamata Convention on Mercury

Background

The Minamata Convention on Mercury is a multilateral environmental agreement aimed at the human activities that spread mercury pollution. It is named after Minamata in Japan, where industrial wastewater from a chemical factory was discharged into Minamata Bay over many years. That wastewater carried methylmercury, which built up in fish and shellfish, and local people who ate the seafood fell seriously ill, with many deaths and lasting disability. Delegates from over 140 countries adopted the text after three years of negotiation, and the Convention opened for signature at a diplomatic conference at Kumamoto in Japan. It entered into force in 2017, and the first Conference of the Parties met at Geneva in Switzerland. Parties must cut and where feasible end mercury use and release in artisanal and small-scale gold mining, and control mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, coal-fired industrial boilers, some non-ferrous metals plants, waste incineration and cement production. They must also phase out or reduce mercury in products such as batteries, switches, lights, cosmetics, pesticides and measuring devices, and start work to cut mercury use in dental amalgam. The Convention further covers mercury supply and trade, safer storage and disposal, contaminated sites and reporting by Parties, and it is to be evaluated from time to time for how well it works.