Environment group, EcoWaste Coalition, called to expedite the ratification of the Minamata Convention on Mercury that aims to protect the public and the environment from the effects of mercury.
The Minamata Convention on Mercury provides “a ban on new mercury mines, the phase-out of existing ones, the phase-out and phase-down of mercury use in a number of products, the control measures on emissions to air and releases to land and water, and the regulation of artisanal and small-scale gold mining.”
According to an Inquirer report, EcoWaste Coalition Chemical Safety Campaigner Thony Dizon stated he believes the country is “ready, willing and able” to ratify and implement the provisions of the treaty.
“As a matter of fact, our country has already achieved a number of policy and regulatory milestones to control, if not eliminate, mercury pollution from human activities. We therefore request the Duterte government to ratify the treaty and to secure the necessary concurrence by the Senate,” Dizon was quoted saying in the report.
Dizon believed that the ratification will not only push forward the country’s efforts to combat mercury pollution and allow the government to take part in treaty processes as a party in the convention, but also allow more access to financial resources, technology transfer, and capacity-building opportunities.
