Addressing mercury pollution and biodiversity: from science to action - Minamata COP5 virtual side event

Interested in knowing more about the Minamata Convention and biodiversity, mercury pollution and its impacts on wildlife, or existing approaches to sustainable conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems? Join our virtual event on Thursday 12 October.

The world is facing a triple global crisis – climate change, global pollution, and biodiversity loss. Chemical pollution and inadequate waste management are among the causes of biodiversity loss according to several Multilateral Environmental Agreements. Mercury is no exception, since its uses, emissions, and releases into the environment are having severe adverse impacts on ecosystems and wildlife. New findings from a meta-analyses of global biotic mercury exposure data from over 1,700 peer-reviewed publications demonstrate that thresholds for harm to reproductive success in fish, birds and marine mammals are regularly exceeded in all biomes of continents and ocean basins.  A total of 45% of 113 families of fish and wildlife include individuals that exceed the human health benchmark set within the United States as food “choices to avoid”.  When individual animals are harmful to people to eat, they are also already at a stage of being adversely impacted at  physiological and behavioral levels that result in lowered reproductive output.

Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) is the largest source of anthropogenic mercury pollution. Informal or poorly regulated ASGM, often using elemental mercury and operating around or even within the vicinity of biodiversity hotspots and/or protected areas, has been reported to contribute to deforestation coupled with land degradation and loss of habitat, but also contamination of soil and water bodies, eventually resulting in the reduction of ecosystems services.

The newly agreed Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework has reinforced the importance of addressing mercury pollution and biodiversity in a synergetic manner, through both related conventions – Minamata Convention on mercury and Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) - and targeted actions towards the reduction of impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity. It is in this context that the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership together with its partners, including the Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) and related stakeholders, is holding this side event as an opportunity to:

• Provide an overview of existing dynamics between mercury pollution, biodiversity, and ecosystem services;
• Present key highlights of the recent global literature review on ASGM and biodiversity;
• Showcase countries’ experiences, if possible, in key regions - Latin America, Africa and Asia - by sharing concrete synergetic initiatives across biodiversity and mercury pollution clusters;
• Initiate exchanges on recommendations and priority future actions.

Agenda

Opening and Scene setting - Malgorzata Stylo, Chemicals and Health Branch, UNEP

Session 1 - Interlinkages between Hg pollution and Biodiversity: Current knowledge and key highlights

• 1) Global and Regional Mercury Threat Assessments: A new tool to inform mercury assessments and strengthen links to biodiversity conservation - David Evers, Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI)
• 2) Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining and biodiversity: a global literature review - Imelda Dossou Etui, Chemicals and Health Branch, UNEP

Session 2 - Restoring the balance: Countries’ experiences and lessons learned

• 3) Using bioindicators to assess mercury pollution from ASGM in the Peruvian Amazon - Claudia Vega, Centro de Innovacion Científica Amazonica (CINCIA), Peru
• 4) Preventing the impact of mercury use on biodiversity: Rwanda’s successful initiative - Patrick Umuhoza, Rwanda Environment Management Agency (REMA)
• 5) Strengthening legal, institutional and regulatory frameworks: process and implementation measures - Anne Nakafeero, National Environment Management Agency (NEMA), Uganda

Summary and closing remarks - Malgorzata Stylo, Chemicals and Health Branch, UNEP