The Incremental Approach to Governing Mercury

The document traces the path from the 1972 Stockholm Conference to the 2017 entry into force of the Minamata Convention on Mercury. It highlights the role of activism and scientific evidence in driving global action and details the treaty's mechanisms for phasing out mercury-added products and regulating artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM). The brief also explains that the discrete nature of mercury's industrial sources and a stronger scientific consensus on its global threat allowed it to move toward a binding treaty, whereas lead and cadmium remain managed through voluntary partnerships and regional agreements.

• The Minamata Convention on Mercury, which entered into force in 2017, regulates the entire life cycle of mercury from production to waste, including bans on new mercury mines and a 15-year limit for existing mines after a country joins.
• As of 2021, parties to the Convention are prohibited from manufacturing or trading in several mercury-containing products that faced a 2020 deadline, including certain batteries, cosmetics like skin lightening creams, pesticides, thermometers, and compact fluorescent lamps under 30 watts.
• Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is the largest contributor to mercury emissions, with over 500,000 workers across seven countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, China, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, and Tanzania.
• Countries with significant ASGM activity must develop national action plans that include reduction targets, baseline estimates of mercury use, and public health strategies to protect miners and their communities.
• Mercury was successfully transitioned to a legally binding treaty while other toxic heavy metals like lead and cadmium were not, partly because mercury's production and use are concentrated in a discrete list of sectors, whereas a broader heavy metals treaty would have required reconciling a much wider range of industrial interests.
• Scientific evidence, specifically the 1998 Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) report showing increasing mercury levels in the Arctic, was critical in establishing mercury as a pressing global threat and prompting the 2001 UNEP global mercury assessment.

APA

Allan,, J. (2021). The Incremental Approach to Governing Mercury. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/articles/governing-mercury

Chicago

Allan,, Jennifer. The Incremental Approach to Governing Mercury. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2021. https://www.iisd.org/articles/governing-mercury.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Allan, |first1=Jennifer |title=The Incremental Approach to Governing Mercury |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=1 November 2021 |url=https://www.iisd.org/articles/governing-mercury |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{allan2021incremental, author = {Allan,, Jennifer}, title = {{The Incremental Approach to Governing Mercury}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2021}, month = nov, url = {https://www.iisd.org/articles/governing-mercury}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }