21-22 March 2016
Geneva, Switzerland

The Regional Workshop on achieving equitable access to water and sanitation: from assessment to action under the UNECE-WHO/Europe Protocol on Water and Health (http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/documents/2000/wat/mp.wat.2000.1.e.pdf) to the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) (http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/water/pdf/watercon.pdf ) was held on 21-22 March 2016.

The objectives of the workshop were:

1. To identify priority gaps and actions needed across the pan-European region to achieve equitable access to water and sanitation, as well as the role of key actors to be engaged for their effective implementation;
2. To discuss how actions to achieve equitable access to water and sanitation can be integrated in water and non-water sectors policy processes and plans;
3. To discuss the financial implications of actions to achieve equitable access to water and sanitation and possible options to finance them;
4. To review progress of the work on assessing equitable access to water and sanitation under the Protocol on Water and Health, inform the development of the draft Strategic note on action plans to achieve equitable access to water and sanitation and guide future activities in this area in the 2017-2019 work programme under the Protocol on Water and Health.

Progress of the work on assessing equitable access to water and sanitation under the Protocol on Water and Health was reviewed.

The outcomes of the discussion will inform the development of the draft Strategic note on action plans to achieve equitable access to water and sanitation and guide future activities in this area in the 2017-2019 work programme under the Protocol.

Documents are available at: http://www.unece.org/index.php?id=42097#/ .

Emma Anakhasyan, Armenian Women for Health and Healthy Environment (AWHHE) attended the workshop and informed about the progress of the Armenian project entitled Self-assessment of Equitable Access to Water and Sanitation in Armenia.

Over 450 participants representing governments, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations took part in the seventh session of the intergovernmental negotiating committee on mercury (INC7) which concluded its work on 15 March 2016 at the King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Center in Jordan after six days of meeting. INC7 was preceded by regional consultations on 9 March 2016. 

Successful outcomes have been achieved at this important session to prepare for the entry into force of the Minamata Convention on mercury, with agreement reached on a number of significant issues which will be considered for adoption by the Conference of Parties at its first meeting. In particular, guidance materials have been adopted on a provisional basis on a number of technical issues, such as on best available techniques and best environmental practices for emissions of mercury, on the identification of stocks and sources of mercury supply as well as on completing the forms required under Article 3. Agreement was also reached on the use of guidance on the development of national action plans on artisanal and small-scale gold mining by countries in developing their national action plans. Good progress was generally made on all areas including the financial mechanism of the Convention as well as administrative matters. Detailed information is available at http://www.mercuryconvention.org/ .

AWHHE representative participated in the INC7 as part of the NGO teams of Zero Mercury Working Group (ZMWG), International Pesticides Elimination Network (IPEN), and World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry.

Press release 

Embargoed until 9 March 2016

Despite progress, global mercury agreement undermined by uncontrolled production and trade

Groups ask governments to fast track ratification, early implementation of Minamata Treaty

Amman, Jordan, 9 March 2016—Commitments toward stronger global mercury controls are being hampered by illegal, unreported and unregulated mercury production and trade, an international NGO coalition revealed today on the eve of a UN mercury treaty meeting in Jordan.

The Zero Mercury Working Group[1] (ZMWG) said that global efforts to reduce emissions of mercury may be derailed if gaps in mercury production and trade controls are not addressed before the treaty enters into force.

“Trafficking in mercury is not like selling potato chips,” said Michael Bender, ZMWG International Coordinator. “There are well known consequences when mercury gets haphazardly produced, traded and subsequently released into the biosphere.”

Mercury is a potent persistent neurotoxin that bioaccumulates, posing the greatest risks to developing children, coastal populations and millions of small-scale gold miners using mercury around the globe.

The Minamata Convention on Mercury, agreed in 2013, signed by 128 countries and ratified by 23 nations thus far, is a treaty that protects human health and environment from mercury pollution. The treaty bans new mercury mines, places control measures on air emissions, imposes regulations on artisanal and small-scale gold mining, and enforces the phase out of existing mines and products.

The meeting in Jordan this week is the seventh session of the intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) on mercury. Delegates are meeting to agree on the finer details of the agreement. This is the last meeting before the Convention enters into force, once 50 countries ratify it.

“Countries need to stay true to the spirit and intent of this historic agreement,” said Elena Lymberidi-Settimo, ZMWG International Coordinator. “In order to stop the flow we need to first know where mercury supply comes from and where it goes.”

Significant gaps in information on mercury production and trade flows prevent a clear understanding of the global supply situation. There is currently no standard information or listing on mercury production, supply and trade. Some mercury producing countries do not report production levels and many countries have no accurate listing of their mercury stocks due to the proliferation of illegal or smuggled supplies.

“It is worrying that new and soon to be illegal primary mercury mines[i] are now popping up in Indonesia and Mexico, and that East Asia is emerging as a major mercury trading hub,” said Richard Gutierrez, Director, Ban Toxics! – Philippines. “All this feeds substantial mercury demand in small-scale gold mining in the greater Asian region, Latin America and potentially across the world. These trends do not bode well for the future of the treaty.”

The ZMWG believes that to effectively control and manage mercury trade, countries need to start identifying and quantifying their mercury production sources.  Governments need to be transparent about their production volumes and stockpiles and about who is exporting and how much to which countries.

“Preventing opportunistic mercury production and trade through an efficient reporting and monitoring structure will help to prevent it from continuing. This should be a top priority when governments gather tomorrow,” said Rico Euripidou of groundWork South Africa.  “Data reporting should become an integral part of the treaty. Otherwise the treaty may end up being just another paper tiger.”

For more information, please contact:

Elena Lymberidi-Settimo, ZMWG International Coordinator, Mobile: +32 496 532818, Elena.lymberidi@eeb.org

Michael Bender, ZMWG International Coordinator, M:+1 802 9174579, mercurypolicy@aol.com

Richard Gutierrez, Director, Ban Toxics!, Philippines, M: +63 2 355 7640, rgutierrez@bantoxics.org

Rico Euripidou, groundWork – Friends of the Earth South Africa , M: +27 835193008, rico@groundwork.org.za

***

Notes to editors:

[1] ZMWG is a global coalition of over 95 public interest environmental and health non-governmental organizations from more than 50 countries.

[2] The Minamata Convention on Mercury http://www.mercuryconvention.org

[3] A now defunct German waste company, DELA GmbH, was found in 2014 to have illegally exported over 1,000 tons of excess metallic mercury from the EU chlor-alkali industry, circumventing the EU export ban, with the mercury making its way on to the global market.  DELA disguised the mercury as “waste” and exported around 500 tonnes to Switzerland, Greece, the Netherlands and other countries.  

DELA was reportedly able to get around the regulations to not deliver stabilized mercury for storage and disposal because no mechanism was required to track the mercury to its intended end destination.   Authorities still do not know where all the mercury went.  But all of the main destination countries are known to trade with countries where there is significant artisanal small scale gold mining which straight-pipes mercury to the environment, also exposing miners and their families to this dangerous neurotoxin.

“In order to stop the flow we need to first know where mercury supply comes from and where it goes,” said Elena Lymberidi-Settimo, EEB Zero Mercury Project Manager . “We call on the EU to set up a trade tracking system to record mercury trade information from exports and imports and also within the industry sector.”

[4] Ratification of the Minamata Convention on Mercury by the EU http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/mercury/ratification_en.htm

[i] Once the treaty enters into force, mercury from primary mining will no longer be allowed used in artisanal and small scale gold mining.