Kumamoto, Japan — The signing of the world’s first international mercury treaty by delegates from more than 100 countries should spur three key actions to reduce total mercury pollution, the International NGO IPEN said.
“The mercury treaty is a victory because it represents a global consensus that mercury pollution presents a serious threat to human health and the environment. Now we need to get to work,” said Joe DiGangi, IPEN’s Senior Science and Technical Adviser. “Some treaty provisions are legally-binding obligations and others require governments to “endeavor” to take action. This means that each government has a moral, if not a legal commitment to fully implement all treaty provisions.”
(Kumamoto, Japan) The signing of the world’s first international mercury treaty by delegates from more than 100 countries should spur three key actions to reduce total mercury pollution, the International NGO IPEN said.
(Kumamoto, Japan) The world’s first international mercury treaty should address mercury in artisanal small-scale gold mining (ASGM) by applying the lessons from the Minamata tragedy, the International NGO IPEN said today.
Minamata, Japan — The world’s first international mercury treaty offers Japan an opportunity to make Minamata an international model for how to resolve environmental crises, the International NGO IPEN said today. Speaking in Minamata on the eve of a diplomatic conference in Kumamoto that will adopt the “Minamata Convention,” senior science and technical advisor for IPEN, Joe DiGangi, said:
“The Mercury Treaty is particularly connected to Minamata because it specifically calls on governments around the world to learn and apply the lessons from the Minamata tragedy to prevent mercury poisoning in the future. Unfortunately, the original tragedy is still not resolved.”