Creating and upscaling an enabling environment towards the reduction and elimination of mercury use in the artisanal and small-scale mining sector
Geneva, Switzerland
The Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) welcomes the entering into force of the Minamata Convention on Mercury on 16 August 2017, after its ratification by 81 countries[1]. This result triggered the first Conference of the Parties (COP1), a milestone on the route towards the elimination of mercury emissions. As an observer of the COP1 (and of the convention since the very first steps), ARM acknowledges the efforts of the parties to recognise the importance of the artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector and to propose specific technical and financial instruments that will help the sector in changing its practices. However, these are not the only challenges for the miners. Reducing and eliminating mercury use is a complex issue that requires a favourable environment in several dimensions, such as access to legal mining rights, access to finance and connection with legal markets.
Despite the fact that the Minamata Convention tackles the technical and, to some extent, the finance-related issues of the mercury problem in ASGM, many crucial obstacles remain, such as the adoption of restrictive legislation which forbids the use of mercury in countries where the activity is prevalent, thereby pushing an entire sector from informality to illegality. ARM pleads for a better coordination of national and regional legislations and public policies.
ARM also calls for a more integral appraisal of the ASGM sector, especially in developing countries, considering that millions of people directly and indirectly depend on this activity to make a living, and that complex value chains provide income for a variety of actors. Implementation programs must take into account the social dimensions of the activity which is mostly performed by communities that have little or no alternatives to improve their livelihoods. The connection with the communities and the social and labour conditions must be part of the programs in order to warrant irreversible changes towards best practices.
The 7th Global Environmental Facility (GEF) program, a 43-million-dollar fund that will address mercury phase-out policies in 8 pilot target countries, will be one of the principal financial instruments to address the mercury issue in ASGM. However, a number of countries where ASGM and mercury use are significant will not be supported in their efforts to comply with their commitment to the Minamata Convention. To guarantee the success of the implementation of the Convention, long-term and global efforts will be necessary, not only from UN agencies but also from the implementing countries themselves.
For more information read ARMs position on mercury.
[1] To date, 28th of September 2017, 81 countries ratified and 128 signed the convention. See the Mercury Convention website.