Monday 19 November, 18:15-19:00
Uniting to stop the mercury crisis in the Amazon
WWF International
This event is an urgent call to action to free the Amazon from the impacts of mercury used in artisanal and small-scale gold mining. The Amazon region is unique in many ways. Spanning more than a third of the South American continent, it contains the greatest share of biodiversity in the world. Further, it is home to more than 34 million inhabitants, including some 3 million indigenous peoples. It is an invaluable source of water, food, shelter, medicines, and culture for these indigenous groups, the region and the world.
However, today the Amazon is under threat. Artisanal and small-scale gold mining is a prominent source of livelihoods and income in the region, but these often informal, unregulated operations make heavy use of mercury in the gold purification process, which is then released into the water and air. This mercury is carried far from the mines, irreversibly contaminating plants and animals throughout the region. Ultimately, it has severe negative impacts on the health, productivity, and quality of life of people, in particular local communities and indigenous peoples, and species in the Amazon and beyond.
The event will kick off WWF’s Healthy Rivers Healthy People campaign with the announcement of the recently formed regional Alliance for a Mercury Free Amazon, a network of experts that seeks to collaborate with governments to support implementation of actions required by the Convention. The Alliance is an effort by civil society help ensure the accomplishment of the goals of the Minamata Convention. At the event, WWF and allies will display the results from two studies on the impacts of gold mining and on the mercury supply chains in the region, and the Alliance will present their first public Declaration urging governments, gold wholesalers and retailers, consumers and miners to take immediate action against the rampant use of mercury in the Amazon.
Expected Speakers include:
- Amazon countries representatives
- Alliance for a Mercury Free Amazon
- UNEP Experts
- WWF Experts
Presentations: WWF Mercury in Illegal Gold Mining.pdf
WWF Healthy Rivers Healthy People.pdf
Tuesday 20 November, 13:15-14:45
How to formalize the ASGM sector for inclusive sustainable development? - Guidance and practice of participatory approaches
UNITAR, UN Environment, CIRDI, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Indonesia
Partners: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Government of Ecuador
The Minamata Convention on Mercury obliges Parties to include “steps to formalize or regulate the ASGM sector” in the National Action Plans (NAPs), which serves as an important measure to effectively manage mercury use and to unlock the sector’s full sustainable development potential. The purpose of this knowledge lab is to share new guidance and practical experiences in the formalization of the ASGM sector and the management of mercury in the sector, with a focus on participatory approaches. First, UNITAR and the UN Environment Global Mercury Partnership (GMP) will showcase their Formalization Handbook for countries developing NAPs. The Handbook provides step-by-step guidance for the development of a national strategy for formalizing the ASGM sector. It also introduces a framework for inclusive formalization in line with a human rights-based approach, focusing on the participation of local stakeholders of ASGM sector in the formalization process. Following the introduction of the Handbook, professor Mariano Castro, former vice-minister of Peru, will reflect on his country’s experience in formalizing the ASGM sector, highlighting challenges, successful approaches and best practices.
Subsequently, CIRDI will introduce a variety of participatory, bottom-up learning techniques that can be employed in collaboration with artisanal miners and other stakeholders, with the aim of facilitating the adoption of better mining practices and the formalization of the ASGM sector. CIRDI will discuss the effectiveness of these approaches by sharing experience from its project ‘Education for the Transformation of Artisanal to Small-scale Mining, Ecuador’. A representative from the government of Ecuador shall further share key lessons learned from the project, which can help in addressing similar challenges that are faced elsewhere in the ASGM sector.
Finally, the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Indonesia shall share Indonesia’s experiences in managing, regulating, and empowering ASGM actors. Panelists shall discuss several policies that have been implemented, and their effects on managing mercury use and pursuing broader development objectives. The Mission of Indonesia shall further discuss the necessity for international collaboration at both global and bilateral levels for developing alternative technologies to mercury.
Presentations: Indonesia_Govt Efforts and Community Participation.pdf
Perú ASGM.pdf
CIRDI TransMAPE Transformative Learning.pdf
UNITAR UNEP GMP Formalization Handbook.pdf
Wednesday 21 November, 13:15-14:00
Mercury in the European Environment and Population
European Environment Agency
The European Environment Agency (EEA) is an agency of the European Union, whose task is to provide sound, independent information on the environment.
The EEA is involved in a number of work areas related to mercury in the environment, and is a partner in the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative, HBM4EU. We propose to present an overview of ongoing and future work as part of a dynamic, interactive and participatory knowledge lab, which should be of interest to a broad group of attendees at the COP2 meeting. A summary of the topics to be covered is given below.
1. The EEA has recently (September 2018) published a non-technical review of ‘Mercury in Europe’s Environment’, with the aim of this report being to:
- increase general awareness and knowledge of the risks posed by mercury;
- provide an overview of the status of mercury pollution in Europe as well as within the overall global context, including data on water quality, industrial emissions and mercury usage;
- review the current and future measures which are being taken in Europe and globally to address mercury pollution;
- provide citizens with actions which they can take to minimise risks and to support ongoing European and global actions with regard to mercury.
This topic will be presented using a combination of animations/video, verbal presentation and audience engagement. Printed copies of the report will also be made available. The presentation will be provided by an expert from the EEA, Dr. Ian Marnane.
2. HBM4EU is the European initiative to coordinate and advance human biomonitoring in Europe. The initiative is a joint effort of 28 countries, the European Environment Agency and the European Commission, co-funded under Horizon 2020.
HBM4EU will provide better evidence of the actual exposure of citizens to chemicals and the possible health effects, to support policy making.Mercury is a priority substance under HBM4EU, meaning that HBM4EU partners are working to:
- Collate existing human biomonitoring data on mercury in Europe;
- Communicate the risks of mercury exposure to non-technical audiences;
- Promote harmonised methods and approaches for monitoring mercury in humans; and
- Foster the use of human biomonitoring data on mercury to inform strategic risk management actions on mercury.
The HBM4EU initiative will be presented via a short video.
We then suggest to present data on human exposure to mercury produced under the Democophes project, as a European baseline. We would then briefly present key activities on mercury under HBM4EU. The speakers will be key personnel involved in the HBM4EU project. HBM4EU partners are open to building partnerships with the Minamata Secretariat and partners, and would view this as an excellent opportunity to discuss future collaborations.
Presentation: Mercury in the European Environment and Population Presentation.pdf