Summary
The first Conference of the Parties (COP1) to the Minamata Convention on Mercury convened for a second day on Monday, 25 September 2017. Meeting in a Committee of the Whole (COW) chaired by Fernando Lugris, Uruguay, delegates discussed issues related to, among others: reporting; financial mechanism including the specific international programme; the Memorandum of Understanding between the COP and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council; guidance to the GEF; the functions of a permanent secretariat; and effectiveness evaluation.
Two contact groups to further discuss reporting and financial mechanism were established and convened during the day. A Friends of the Chair group met in the evening to consider the permanent functions of the secretariat.
Delegates also engaged in a thematic dialogue on land during the lunch break, and also attended a Minamata Convention Initial Assessment (MIA) clinic.
IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, provided daily web coverage and daily reports for COP1. The summary and analysis is now available in HTML and PDF.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth
For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page.
Morning Plenary - Committee of the Whole (COW)
View of the dais (L-R): Sheila Logan, Interim Secretariat of the Minamata Convention; Jacob Duer, Principal Coordinator, Interim Secretariat of the Minamata Convention; Fernando Lugris, Uruguay, COW Chair; Claudia Ten Have, Interim Secretariat of the Minamata Convention; Stadler Trengove, Legal Advisor; and Nina Cromnier, Sweden, Rapporteur
Fernando Lugris, Uruguay, COW Chair
Angela Rivera, Colombia, speaking on behalf of the Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Juan Miguel Cuna, the Philippines
Toï Pagnibam Meba, Togo
Karissa Kovner, US
Sunee Piyapanpong, Thailand
Heidar Ali Balouji, Iran
Serge Molly Allo'o Allo'o, Gabon
Chizuru Aoki, Global Environment Facility (GEF)
Andrei Pilipchuk, Belarus
Franz Perrez, Switzerland
Marc D'Iorio, Canada
Fuatino Matatumua-Leota, Samoa
Gillian Guthrie, Jamaica
Afternoon Plenary
View of the room during the afternoon plenary
Gbenakpon Macandjou Sandra Gonou, Benin
Najib Rahman Said, Afghanistan
Ji-Young Lim, Republic of Korea
Anahit Aleksandryan, Armenia
Andrew McNee, Australia
David Lennett, Zero Mercury Working Group
Nohelia Carolina Vargas Idiáquez, Nicaragua
Yingxian Xia, China
Sam Adu-Kumi, Ghana, speaking on behalf of the African Group
Puta Tofinga, Kiribati
Lilian Corra, International Society of Doctors for the Environment (ISDE)
Francis Kihumba, Kenya
Elsa Ferreras de Sánchez, Dominican Republic
Contact Groups Throughout the Day
Contact Group on Reporting
Contact Group on the Financial Mechanism
Around the Venue
Ibrahim Thiaw, Deputy Executive Director, UN Environment, speaks with Jacob Duer, Principal Coordinator, Interim Secretariat of the Minamata Convention
John Whitelaw, Consultant with the Interim Secretariat (center), speaks with delegates from the US and Uruguay
Delegates from Japan
Rolph Payet, Executive Secretary, Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) Conventions (right), with delegates from India and Lebanon
Delegates speak informally
A display listing the countries that have ratified the Minamata Convention, made from the wooden nameplates used at the Diplomatic Conference in Kumamoto in 2013 and refabricated by a Minamata disease patient and carpenter
Skin products are tested at the venue to see if they contain mercury
