Mercury exposure can affect fetal neurological development and has been linked to lowered fertility, brain and nerve damage, and heart disease in adults who have high levels of mercury in their blood. Although a naturally occurring element, many sources of emissions and releases into air and water come from anthropogenic sources, such as industrial processes, mining, waste incineration, combustion of fossil fuels, and mercury-containing products such as lamps, batteries, switches, instruments, dental amalgam and certain skin creams.

The Minamata Convention, which was adopted in 2015, addresses these anthropogenic sources of mercury exposure and is the first substance-focused multilateral environmental agreement. Its Conference of Parties meets every two years to approve guidance and action plans to implement the Convention, consider compliance of parties, and improve the Convention’s effectiveness.

Among other things, the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-4) discussed:

• proposals to amend Annexes A (mercury-added products) and B (manufacturing processes in which mercury or mercury compounds are used) to the Convention;
• draft guidance on the methodology for preparing inventories of mercury releases;
• whether to request technical experts to develop guidance on best available techniques and best environmental practices to control releases from relevant sources;
• draft guidance on the use of customs codes for monitoring and controlling trade in mercury-added products;
• an update to guidance for the preparation of a national action plan to reduce and, where feasible, eliminate mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining;
• financial resources and mechanism for the Convention, including a discussion of the timing and terms of reference for the next review of the financial mechanism;
• the revised draft guidance for completing the national report format;
• how best to proceed with the effectiveness evaluation of the Convention;
• the budget for the 2022-2023 biennium; and
• enhanced cooperation with the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions.

Originally scheduled to be held in November 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic forced COP-4 to be divided into two parts: an online segment held 1-5 November 2021 to address time-sensitive items, including the Convention’s Programme of Work (POW) and budget for 2022-2023, and an in-person segment held 21-25 March 2022 in Bali, Indonesia.