Reluctant move

Nine years after the Minamata Convention was adopted, countries agree to eliminate the use of mercury in artisanal gold mining. Can they enforce the decision?

- KIRAN PANDEY

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining is the largest source of anthropogenic mercury emissions

ON MARCH 25, 2022, world leaders from 137 countries agreed to stop the illegal use of mercury at the fourth Conference of the Parties to Minamata Convention, in Bali, Indonesia. Though non-binding, the countries pledged for the first time to reduce the use of mercury in artisanal and small-scale gold mining, which is the largest source of mercury pollution in the world.

The element is so toxic that there is no safe level of exposure to it. It damages the nervous, digestive and immune systems, and is particularly harmful to children.

Artisanal gold miners usually combine the toxic heavy metal with gold ore and then burn it to extract pure gold. The method accounts for 38 per cent of the world's total emissions and releases of mercury, as per the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

ILLEGAL MERCURY USE

15 countries account for over 85 per cent of all mercury used in artisanal and small-scale gold mining