Latin American and Caribbean Group

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

The first Conference of the Parties (COP1) to the Minamata Convention on Mercury, under the theme “Make Mercury History,” began on Sunday, 24 September and is scheduled to conclude on Friday, 29 September 2017, in Geneva, Switzerland. During a brief opening ceremony, delegates heard opening speeches from Marc Chardonnens, Director, Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), Switzerland, and Ibrahim Thiaw, Deputy Director, UN Environment. Delegates then convened in a plenary to address organizational matters, including election of officers, rules of procedure, and the appointment of a credentials committee. Delegates then established a Committee of the Whole (COW) chaired by Fernando Lugris, Uruguay. After a round of general statements, the COP engaged in discussions on provisionally adopted guidance documents related to supply sources and trade, exemptions for phase-out dates, and emissions. 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. Opening Plenary Musicians welcome delegates to the first day of COP1 Ibrahim Thiaw, Deputy Executive Director, UN Environment Marc Chardonnens, Director, Federal Office for the Environment, Switzerland Jacob Duer, Principal Coordinator, Interim Secretariat of the Minamata Convention Marc Chardonnens, Director, Federal Office for the Environment, Switzerland, is welcomed onto the podium after being elected COP1 President Fernando Lugris, Uruguay, is elected Chair for the Committee of the Whole (CoW) Philip Weech, the Bahamas, speaking on behalf of the Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC) Babajide Alo, Nigeria Kaupo Heinma, EU Mick Saito, Japan, speaking on behalf of the Asia-Pacific Region Charles Brown, World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry Margaret Kaemba, Zambia, speaking on behalf of the African Group Vladimir Lenev, Russian Federation Rolph Payet, Executive Secretary, Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) Conventions M.R. Karliansyah, Indonesia Shinobu Sakamoto, a woman living with fetal Minamata disease, speaks on behalf of the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) and the Zero Mercury Working Group Around the Venue Delegates meet informally before the start of the opening plenary Gregor Filyk, Canada The mercury drop on display outside the Palais des Nations A young boy admires the inside of the mercury drop

UNCCD COP 13 delegates worked in two contact groups of the Conference of the Whole (COW), on budget and on other matters, throughout the morning and lunchtime on Friday, 15 September, to complete their negotiations. The final meetings of the COW convened at 4:30 pm to review the draft decisions from these contact groups, with a view to recommending them for adoption during a COP plenary session. After adoption of the COW draft decisions, a COP plenary session followed, during which the COP adopted 15 COW decisions, and nine COP decisions. During the closing session, COP 13 President Zhang Jianlong encouraged the youth to take action to combat desertification in the future. UNCCD Executive Secretary Monique Barbut affirmed that COP 13 took bold steps for the Convention, which now had a clear, action-oriented path forward. She summarized the new initiatives established during COP 13, including on drought, migration, gender, and sand and dust storms, as well as the launching of the LDN Fund and Global Land Outlook. Zhang Jianlong gaveled COP 13 to a close at 6:45 pm. IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage, daily reports, and a summary and analysis report from the UNCCD COP 13. The summary and analysis report is now available in HTML and PDF. Photos by IISD/ENB | Francis Dejon For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page. COW contact group on programme and budget View of the COW contact group on programme and budget waiting for delegates to return from informal consultations L-R: Patrick Wegerdt, EU, Chair of the COW contact group on programme and budget, in conversation with Randolph Edmead, Saint Kitts and Nevis Committee of the Whole (COW) Interim Chair Skumsa Mancotywa, South Africa, standing in for COW Chair Nosipho Ngcaba, South Africa, resumed the COW proceedings Luís Constantino, Angola, Chair of the COW contact group on other matters Delegates on their way to the COW contact group on other matters Helge Elisabeth Zeitler, EU Christine Dawson, US Interim COW Chair Skumsa Mancotywa, gaveled the COW to a close at 5:31 pm Conference of the Parties (COP) L-R: Jia Xiaoxia, China, on behalf of the COP 13 President; Carmen Margina, UNCCD Secretariat; and Rajeb Boulharouf, Chef de Cabinet, UNCCD Secretariat UNCCD Executive Secretary Monique Barbut COP 13 President Zhang Jianlong Trevor Benn, Rapporteur COP 13 President Zhang Jianlong, gaveled the meeting to a close at 6:45 pm UNCCD Executive Secretary Monique Barbut, congratulating COP 13 President Zhang Jianlong COP 13 Snapshots UNCCD Executive Secretary Monique Barbut, and delegates from the EU Delegates from the Group of Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC), with a delegate from Algeria Participants from civil society organizations, local staff and UNCCD secretariat L-R: Frederika Teixeira and Bukuru Melchiade, UNCCD Secretariat L-R: Gigi Baldovino Gosnell and Mukondi Masithi, South Africa Postcards of landmarks from Ordos L-R: ENB team at UNCCD COP 13, Ordos, China, with Guang Yang; Suzi Malan; Kelly Sharp; Jessica Wang; Franz Dejon; Wangu Mwangi; Dina Hestad and Laura Russo