BANGKOK, 24 October– Expanding their campaign against mercury use, environmental group BAN Toxics joins the Asia and the Pacific preparations for the Second Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP2) on October 23-24, 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand.
“The Minamata Convention is of utmost importance for us in strengthening our efforts to fully eliminate mercury use in the country. Regional meetings such as this benchmark what the Philippines has accomplished in terms of protecting its people and the environment against mercury effects,” BAN Toxics Deputy Executive Director (DED), Mr. Reynaldo San Juan, Jr. explained.
In January 2013, the Minamata Convention on Mercury was agreed on as a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from mercury emissions and effects.
On August 26, 2017, the Convention entered into force which resulted in the First Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP1) held the same year in Geneva, Switzerland. Major accomplishments of the COP1 included the crafting of guidelines on mercury trade. Moreover, the banner “Make Mercury History” celebrated the commitment of the international community to the Minamata Convention.
As of now, 101 countries have ratified the Convention. The Philippines has signed the Convention on October 10, 2013 but has yet to become a Party.
It was also during the COP1 that prevalent mercury use in the artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) industry was raised.
BAN Toxics, who has been working for years with the ASGM sector deemed it necessary to attend the regional preparations for the COP2 to lobby the ratification of the Minamata Convention in the Philippines.
Philippine Representatives for the Asia and Pacific Regional meeting in preparation for COP2.
From left to right – Reynaldo San Juan, Jr., Deputy Executive Director of BAN Toxics; Atty. Richard Gutierrez, CEO of BAN Toxics and Project Manager and Minamata Expert of Artisanal Gold Council; Joe Amil Salino, representative of Environmental Management Bureau-Philippines and MIA Project Coordinator; and Elias Salazar, South Cotabato Project Manager of BAN Toxics
“We call on the government to ratify the Minamata Convention as we in BAN Toxics believe that the Philippines has much to gain from being a Party to the Convention,” Mr. San Juan added. He then interjected that being a Party to the Minamata Convention will gain the Philippines access to additional financial and technical assistance to further strengthen its efforts to curb the different life stages of mercury in the country, especially in the poverty-ridden ASGM sector.
“We hope that the ratification process will be expedited in time for the COP2 so that the Philippines will participate as a legitimate Party to the Convention and not just observers,” he elaborated.
As of now, the COP2 preparations in Bangkok aims to organize and settle regional issues to facilitate discussions in the COP2, scheduled on November 19-23, 2018 at the International Conference Centre in Geneva, Switzerland.