In a landmark display of international cooperation, more than 160 countries committed to tackling one of the world’s greatest chemical health threats at the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
According to the UNEP Newscentre, the world’s first environmental and health treaty in a decade saw many countries pledge political and financial support to help reduce and eliminate mercury, a heavy metal affecting the health of millions of people worldwide from Guyana and Kiribati, to Uganda and Japan.
In her opening speech, the President of the Swiss Confederation, Doris Leuthard, described the Minamata Convention as a success of multilateralism, “The Minamata Convention is a global solution to a global challenge. From now on the name Minamata will no longer only be associated with a problem, but with a solution,” she said.
Opening the high-level segment, Erik Solheim Head of UN Environment said that in order to really address the mercury challenge solutions had to be integrated into public health and environmental strategies at all levels – from local to international – and embodied into the wider pollution control agenda. He called on ministers and delegates to use the tragic legacy of Minamata to propel the convention forward.
“We owe it to Minamata, to the people who suffered, to the people who ultimately made this day possible, to ensure that we never allow another tragedy like Minamata to occur again. And with the many technologies we have available now there is no reason why it should. We have the answers, we just need the political will to make it happen,” he said.
Taking stock of the conference, which came to a close on 30 September in Geneva, Marc Chardonnens, COP1 President and Switzerland’s Vice-Minister for Environment, said that the decisions taken would enable the States to start to implement the Convention at the national level,” he said.
“The measures for reducing mercury emissions that pose a risk to health and the environment can begin,” he said.
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