1. Negotiations

Minamata Convention on Mercury

The 2013 Minamata Convention on Mercury is an international treaty to protect human health and the environment from mercury and mercury compounds. As a naturally occurring element, mercury can be released into the air and water through the weathering of rock containing mercury ore or through human activities such as industrial processes, mining, deforestation, waste incineration, and burning fossil fuels. Mercury can also be released from mercury-containing products, including dental amalgam, electrical applications, laboratory and medical instruments, batteries, antiseptic and antibacterial creams, and skin lightening creams.

Exposure to mercury can affect fetal neurological development and has been linked to lowered fertility, brain and nerve damage, and heart disease. The Minamata Convention bans new mercury mines and calls for the phase-out of existing ones. It also contains control measures on emissions and products containing mercury, and the regulation of mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining. The Convention also addresses interim storage of mercury and its disposal once it becomes waste, sites contaminated by mercury, and health issues.

Events

Showing 1 - 10 of 18 results

6th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP-6)

Parties faced a pivotal test: can global efforts keep pace with the ambition to end mercury use and exposure? They confronted this challenge head on, addressing how to accelerate the phase-out of mercury across products, processes, and mining while closing persistent gaps in supply and trade.
Conference of the Parties (COP) 3 November 2025 - 7 November 2025

5th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury

Parties took crucial steps toward eliminating mercury pollution, including by adopting decisions on: new dates to phase out mercury-added products including cosmetics, strengthened ties with Indigenous Peoples, the Convention’s first effectiveness evaluation, and a threshold for mercury waste, which will help countries avoid becoming dumping grounds for mercury-contaminated wastes.
Conference of the Parties (COP) 30 October 2023 - 3 November 2023

3rd Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP3)

The third meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP3) to the Minamata Convention on Mercury focused on achieving the smooth functioning of an international treaty body as well as substantive and technical issues aimed at fostering action to address mercury production and use around the world.
Conference of the Parties (COP) 25 November 2019 - 29 November 2019