At the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP-6), Parties adopted 22 decisions in a productive week of collaboration and determination.
From 3 to 7 November, more than 1,000 participants in Geneva and nearly 4,000 viewers online joined.
“With your creativity and commitment, we have set ambitious new goals and left mercury a little further behind, together,” said COP-6 President Osvaldo Álvarez Pérez (Chile) in his closing remarks.
Historic outcomes
Among its outcomes, COP-6 adopted new amendments to Annex A, agreeing to end the use of dental amalgam by 2034, a decision described by many delegations as a historic milestone for the convention.
Parties also agreed to step up global efforts to eliminate mercury-added skin-lightening products, strengthen action on artisanal and small-scale gold mining, and continue deep work on mercury supply, trade, and waste management.
Biodiversity
The need to implement the roadmap for enhancing co-benefits between the Minamata Convention and the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework was recognized.
Parties also called for closer collaboration with the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste and Pollution, the Global Framework on Chemicals, the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, and others.
The COP outlined preparations for the first effectiveness evaluation of the Minamata Convention.
Stakeholder participation
Stakeholder participation reached new levels at COP-6, with the:
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establishment of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Mercury
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launch of the Convention’s Women’s Caucus
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Youth Declaration
COP-6 featured special in-person events, including:
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the film screening From science to action: protecting the Amazon from mercury pollution
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lessons learned from planetGOLD programme
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discussions on harmful beauty ideals and practices
Also at the venue, nineteen Knowledge Labs promoted information exchange.
Exhibitions such as the Minamata Photographers’ Eye Project and Humanæ by Angélica Dass, connected the legacy of Minamata disease to current challenges such as mercury use in the Amazon and in skin-lightening products.
Looking ahead
“We have just opened the door to another chapter of the mercury history book,” said Executive Secretary Monika Stankiewicz.
The seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-7) will take place in June 2027.
