Current Affairs 2022: Minamata COP-4

The Minamata Convention has been ratified by 140 countries including India, which ratified it in 2018.

Minamata Convention is named after Minamata Bay in Japan where mercury-induced wastewater from industries poisoned thousands of people in the mid-twentieth century. This led to severe health damages and the disease came to be known as Minamata Disease. Since the inception of the Minamata Convention in August 2017, the respective parties have been striving as a whole to put a leash on the supply and trade of mercury, reduce its use and create awareness among people. They go with the motto of #MakeMercuryHistory. 

The Convention was agreed upon in Geneva, Switzerland at the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee and is the world’s first legally binding treaty. It is one of the first Global Treaties of its kind and specifically addresses issues pertaining to Mercury and the adverse effects it has on humans and the environment as a whole. The Convention focuses on getting control of the anthropogenic release of mercury and disposal of its waste. The Convention has been ratified by 140 Nation States including India, which ratified it in 2018. The Convention’s official objective is, “to protect the human health and the environment from the anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds.”

• The Convention also contains provisions relating to the life cycle of mercury in its entirety, which also includes controlling and reducing the use of mercury across a range of processes, products and industries.
• The Convention is also inclusive of provisions that relate to mercury mining, storage, exports and imports and disposal.
• The Treaty also takes into account areas like the identification of improving healthcare facilities, at-risk populations and also training the healthcare personnel to better tackle mercury-related diseases.

The Prime Areas covered under the Minamata Convention are 

1. Mercury supply sources and trade,

2. Artisanal and small-scale gold mining,

3. Mercury-added products,

4. Environmentally sound interim storage of mercury, other than mercury waste,

5. Manufacturing processes in which mercury or mercury compounds are used,

6. Emissions to air, Releases to land and water, Mercury wastes and Contaminated sites

7. Health aspects

Minamata Convention and its Implications for India

As mentioned that India ratified the Convention in 2018 and with that came certain internal shifts that India embarked upon. They are as follows; 

• The Convention will not be singularly implemented but in the context of sustainable development. This is done to protect human health from degradation caused by mercury use and the loss that the environment bears from the anthropogenic use of mercury and its compounds.
• The Convention will also encourage Indian Industries to make a shift to mercury-free alternatives for production and the use of non-mercury technologies in the process of manufacturing. 
• The Convention has also affected the use of mercury in Ayurvedic medicines, Unani medicines and Siddha medicines. This will benefit humans in the long run as they heavily rely upon these medicines instead of functional medicine. 

The issues that have been discussed at the fourth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP4) in its second round to the Minamata Convention held at Bali are mentioned below. The non-binding declaration discussed in the COP calls upon the parties to:

• Developing some practical tools, notification avenues and information-sharing systems for proper monitoring and managing trades concerning mercury.
• Exchanging the experiences and practices related to combating illegal trade in mercury, which includes reducing the use of mercury in small-scale and artisanal gold mining.
• The parties have to share examples of national legislation in their respective countries and the data in relation to such trades. 

In conclusion, the efforts of the convention are to stabilise the environment and reduce the use of mercury to protect life. 

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About the author

With a master's degree in environmental science, Priya Sengupta found her true calling in words and stories. A passionate writer, avid reader and a dog parent, she spends her me-time reading Bengali literature and listening to soulful music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely the author’s own and do not reflect/represent those of Shiksha.