October 2014: The latest issue of the Global Environment Facility’s (GEF) online magazine outlines the GEF’s role in funding programs aimed at addressing chemical pollution and reducing mercury contamination. As part of the financial mechanism of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, the GEF indicates it will scale up its international activities in an effort to eliminate mercury contamination.

As noted in the October 2014 issue of ‘The Greenline,’ on the theme, ‘Mission to Minamata,’ the Convention has been signed by 128 countries and ratified by seven. At the Fifth GEF Assembly in May 2014, the Minamata Convention and a new focal area on Chemicals and Waste was added to the GEF Instrument. During its fifth replenishment cycle (GEF-5), the GEF funded 40 mercury projects with US$25 million, including projects to reduce mercury emissions in small-scale gold mining, lighting, and the healthcare sector.

Another US$141 million has been allocated for mercury projects in the sixth GEF replenishment cycle (GEF-6). The GEF-6 Mercury instrument focuses on using integrated approaches to allow investment and partnerships from non-traditional sectors, with the primary objective of preventing the exposure of humans and the environment to harmful chemicals. The funds will cover the Convention’s interim period, early action, and implementation after the treaty’s entry into force. During the interim period, resources will be provided “to meet the agreed incremental costs of global environmental benefits and the agreed full costs of some enabling activities for eligible countries.”

The allocation of resources will be directed by the GEF Chemicals and Waste strategy, the intergovernmental negotiating committee on mercury (INC), and eventually the Conference of the Parties to the Convention. [Publication: Mission to Minimata] [GEF Mercury Curtain Raiser Video][IISD RS Chemicals and Wastes Policy & Practice Coverage of the GEF][IISD RS Chemicals and Wastes Policy & Practice Coverage of Mercury Convention]