WIREDGOV

Yesterday, during the global Diplomatic Conference in Kumamoto, Japan, Minister of Environment, Valentinas Mazuronis, together with the EU Commissioner for the Environment, Janez Potočnik, signed the new international Minamata Convention on mercury on behalf of the EU. The Minister also signed the Convention on behalf of Lithuania. More than a hundred global high-ranking officials are participating at this important international event. The Convention’s goal is to decrease mercury emissions and the impact thereof on human health and the environment.

“It is very significant that the signing of the Mercury Convention during the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union marks the end of a four-year international negotiation regarding a new legally binding instrument, which ended in the first quarter of 2013,” said Minister of the Environment, Mazuronis. According to him, another important stage will now begin – the implementation of the Convention, which will be useful to citizens of the EU and the rest of the world. The new Convention, the goal of which is to ensure the right of future generations to live in a sustainable environment without mercury, regulates the life-cycle of mercury from mining, processing, usage, and emission into the atmosphere and control, to the management of waste and mercury-contaminated areas.

The United Nations Environment Programme saw global measures for mercury regulation (mercury was declared a chemical substance of global concern) as early as 2003. Once entering the environment, mercury travels great distances with water and air, and poses a huge threat to humans and the environment. Four years ago, the International Negotiating Committee was established to draft the international legally binding agreement. The EU was one of the leaders in active negotiations and preparations of the Convention's text, which was mainly inspired by the EU's legal acts, and will contribute greatly to the application of the EU’s environmental standards globally. The Mercury Convention is the first multilateral environmental agreement signed over the last decade.

With the Conference approaching, the Lithuanian Minister, acting as Chairman of the EU Environment Council, urged all Ministers of Environment of the EU to sign the Convention on behalf of their country. Besides Lithuania, 21 EU member countries have signed it so far. Lithuania seeks that all member countries of the EU not only sign, but also ratify this international agreement as soon as possible.

Lithuania, presiding over the EU Council, is responsible for the proper preparation of EU countries for the Conference and their active participation. Lithuania coordinated the preparation of the EU’s common position during a preliminary meeting, which took place this Monday and Tuesday. During the meeting, a final agreement was reached regarding the documents: the final act and the decisions needed to ensure the effective implementation of the Convention. Lithuania and EU countries seek a more efficient use of existing administrative structures, and more active cooperation and coordination of activities with other conventions regulating chemical substances and waste management; and special programmes created to finance the chemical substances and waste sectors, when implementing the Convention during the transitional period.

The Convention's title and Diplomatic Conference's location weren't chosen at random. During the 1930–60s, the town of Minamata intensively produced chemical substances, and large amounts of mercury and its compounds entered the environment. This resulted in severe illnesses and deaths, with the consequences of the contamination being felt to this day. The disease caused by mercury is globally known as the Minamata disease. The suffering of thousands of people due to irresponsible mercury management in the past was honoured , on the eve of the Conference, during a commemoration day in Minamata