Mercury treaty summit criticized for inaction on gold mining crisis

Mercury treaty summit criticized for inaction on gold mining crisis

A global mercury summit in Geneva has faced criticism from environmental and Indigenous groups for failing to act on mercury use in small-scale gold mining, the world’s top source of mercury pollution and a growing threat to the Amazon. Delegates…

Mercury Treaty Fails to Address the Gold Mining Crisis

Geneva-Despite the growing crisis of mercury contamination in the Amazon, Africa and parts of Asia caused by mercury use in small-scale gold mining (also called artisanal and small-scale gold mining, ASGM), at the Sixth Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention this week delegates failed to take strong action toward amending the Convention to ban this use of mercury. The concerns are especially urgent in Latin America, where food sour…