65

Analysis of the Minamata Convention on Mercury in the Context of
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Reiko SODENO*
College of Systems Engineering and Science, Shibaura Institute of Technology
307, Fukasaku, Minuma-ku, Saitama 337-8570, Japan*E-mail: sodeno@shibaura-it.ac.jp

Abstract
In response to global mercury pollution, the Minamata Convention on Mercury was adopted in 2013 andenacted in 2017. Parties have developed implementation mechanisms under the Convention. Compared toother multilateral environmental treaties, the Minamata Convention is unique in that its sole target is mercury,which it aims to manage throughout its lifecycle, including mining, trade, usage, emissions, releases, storage
and disposal. The Convention also highlights social issues related to mercury, such as vulnerable populations
facing risks from mercury, and the informal sector working in the field of artisanal and small-scale gold
mining (ASGM). This paper seeks to identify how the Convention may be developed from the perspective ofachieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which also pursue comprehensive approaches toenvironmental, social and economic issues. The analysis provided shows that the Minamata Convention
addresses all 17 goals of the SDGs, recognizing strong synergies with health (Goal 3), responsible consumption
and production (Goal 12), and partnerships (Goal 17) in particular. For further development of the Convention,
it is recommended that a gender perspective should be incorporated into the implementation of theConvention. In the context of trade-off relationships, the generation of mercury waste needs to be dealt withproperly. By utilizing recovered mercury, mercury from primary mining can be phased-out in advance of thecurrent schedule. ASGM and mercury waste management are still the biggest concerns for fulfillment of theConvention. Formulation of a global scheme of safe mercury waste management will be essential in the long term.
Key words :	environmentally sound management, long-term management, mercury waste,Minamata Convention Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), sustainability

1. Introduction
Mercury is recognized as a substance withsignificant adverse health effects. There are particularconcerns over its harmful effects on infants and unborn
children. A global mercury assessment (UNEP, 2002)
showed that there was sufficient evidence of significant
adverse global impacts from mercury and its compounds.
The global transport of mercury pollution in theenvironment has been a key driver for global action taken
by international society to address the problem of
mercury pollution. After international discussion basedon a scientific evaluation presented in the assessment
report, the Minamata Convention on Mercury (UNEP,
2013a) was adopted in 2013 and enacted in 2017.
Compared to other multilateral environmental
treaties, the Minamata Convention is unique in that its
sole target is mercury, which it aims to manage
throughout its lifecycle including mining, trade, usage,
emissions, releases, storage and disposal. The Convention
Global Environmental Research
24/2020: 065-070
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65

also highlights social issues related to mercury, such as
vulnerable populations facing risks from mercury, and theinformal sector working in the field of artisanal andsmall-scale gold mining (ASGM). This comprehensive
approach, addressing not only environmental issues but
also social and economic issues related to mercury,corresponds to the principles of the United Nations’ 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development (UNGA, 2015).
The Agenda was adopted by the United Nations
Assembly in September 2015, underpinned by 17
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets.
The Agenda emphasizes the importance of integrating thethree dimensions of sustainable development, namely
environmental, social and economic issues, in a balancedmanner, with the principle of inclusion represented by theslogan of “no one will be left behind” being consistent
with all goals of the SDGs. As Griggs et al. (2013, 2014)
emphasized, a comprehensive approach is necessary forseeking sustainable development, since all of the goals
are deeply interlinked with each other and cannot be©2020 AIRES

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R. SODENO

achieved by separate approaches. The SDGs, therefore,
can be utilized as a toolkit or a guide to confirm whether
policies address all necessary issues for pursuing asustainable world without sacrificing other issues. Afterthe adoption of Agenda 2030, the world, includinginternational organizations, governments, local
governments, the private sector, research institutions, andcivil society, has shifted its activities toward pursuingachievement of the SDGs. Therefore, the Minamata
Convention also needs to respond to these international
expectations of achieving the SDGs by 2030.
This paper explores the relationship between the
Minamata Convention and the SDG targets to clarify thepossible effect of the Convention on sustainable
development, including both positive and negative
impacts. Then, this paper seeks to understand the key
directions and challenges for further development of the
Minamata Convention from the perspective of achieving
the SDGs that pursue a comprehensive approach acrossenvironmental, social and economic challenges.

2. Methodology
The SDGs consist of 169 targets under 17 goals,
which cover the environmental, social, economic andgovernance spheres, and facilitate a goal-oriented
approach (Kanie & Biermann, 2017). Firstly, this paper
analyses the interlinkages between the provisions of the
Minamata Convention and the SDGs at the target level,
examining both synergies and trade-off relations. The
main body of the Minamata Convention in association
with the regulation of mercury or arrangements by theParties is a target of analysis in this paper. ICSU (2017)
and Nilsson et al. (2016) have developed a framework,whereby interactions between the SDGs and targets areclassified on a seven-point ordinal scale. The framework
identifies categories of causal and functional relationships
underlying progress toward or achievement of goals andtargets, and gives scores classifying interactions as‘enabling,’ ‘reinforcing’ and ‘indivisible’ for positive
interactions, and ‘constraining,’ ‘counteracting’ and‘cancelling’ for negative interactions. This framework has
been applied in analysis in this paper in a simple manner,
focusing on significant positive and negative
relationships.
In the case that the provisions of the Convention
don’t explicitly address the SDG targets, but its effectobviously contributes to achievement of the SDG targets,that kind of synergy is also included, with clarification as“indirect synergy.” For instance, reduction of mercury
emissions to the atmosphere under Article 8 doesn’t
explicitly address reduction of marine pollution, which isin SDG 14. According to a recent total mercury budget
assessment (UNEP, 2018), however, the main flow ofglobal mercury is anthropogenic emissions to air (2,500
tons per year) and deposition to oceans from the air

Sodeno.indd

66(3,800 tons per year), which means that Article 8 certainly
contributes to SDG 14. In this case, the relationshipbetween Article 8 and SDG 14 is classified as “indirectsynergy.” Likewise, phasing out fluorescent lamps using
mercury under Article 4 doesn’t directly link with climatechange (SDG 13) or energy efficiency (SDG 7), but it
leads to the propagation of LED lamps, which contributes
to achieving those SDGs indirectly.
Secondly, based on the above analysis, futurechallenges are discussed for achieving a sustainable
society and fulfilling the purposes of the Minamata
Convention.

3. Results
3.1	Synergies between the Minamata Convention and
SDGs
Given the purpose of the Minamata Convention
prescribed in Article 1, which is “to protect the humanhealth and the environment from anthropogenic emissions
and releases of mercury and mercury compounds,” it isobvious that the Convention gives the highest priority to
Goal 3 of the SDGs, good health and well-being, inparticular SDG Target 3.9, which is “by 2030,
substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses
from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil
pollution and contamination.” In line with protection of
the environment, Target 12.4, which is “by 2020, achieve
the environmentally sound management of chemicals andall wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance withagreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce
their release to air, water and soil in order to minimize
their adverse impacts on human health and theenvironment,” is also directly addressed by the Convention.
Table 1 lists synergies between the Minamata
Convention and the SDGs at the target level. It reveals
that the Minamata Convention covers all 17 goals of theSDGs to a greater or lesser extent, which means theConvention has taken the concept of Agenda 2030 inadvance, and implemented it for achieving a sustainable
society.
Looking at the synergies at the SDG target level,
many articles of the Convention have synergies withTargets 3.9 and 12.4, which are recognized as core targetsof the Convention prescribed in the purpose of theConvention as described above. Although Target 3.9
accounts for more than half of the indirect synergies,
Target 3.d under Goal 3 of the SDGs, “Strengthen thecapacity of all countries, in particular developing
countries, for early warning, risk reduction andmanagement of national and global health risks” isdirectly addressed in seven articles of the Convention in
the context of health risk assessment, education orcapacity building. Other than those two targets, Target
17.16, prescribing a global partnership and multistakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share

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Analysis of the Minamata Convention on Mercury in the Context of SDGs〇: direct synergy

Table 1 Synergies between the Minamata Convention and the SDGs.
Minamata Convention

2.4

3.9

3.ｄ

4.4

4.7

5.c

6.3

7.3

8.4

9.4

9.5

9.ｂ

10.ｂ 11.6 12.2 12.4 12.a△〇

Article 4 Mercury-added
products△△

Pesticides

Article 5 Manufacturing
processes in which mercury are
used
〇

△

〇

△

〇

〇

〇

〇

12.c

△

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

△

13.2

14.1 15.1 16.10 17.2 17.7 17.9 17.16

△

Lamp

Lamp

△

〇

△

〇

△

Article 8 Emissions to theatmosphere

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇
〇

〇

△

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

△

Coal-fired Coal-fired
facilities power plants

Article 9 Release to land and
water

△

〇

Article 10 Environmentallysound interim storage of
mercury△△〇

Article 11 Mercury wastes

△

△

〇

Article 12 Contaminated sites

〇

〇

〇

△

△

Article 14 Capacity-building,technical assistance andtechnology transfer

〇

〇

〇

〇

Article 18 Public information,awareness and education△

Article 19 Research,development and monitoring

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

Article 17 Information exchange〇〇〇

Article 13 Financial resources
and mechanism

Article 16 Health aspects

△

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

△

〇

〇

〇
〇

〇

Synergy: 〇

1

1

3

7

1

4

0

1

0

0

5

3

2

1

3

6

9

5

1

1

1

1

1

2

4

6

Indirect synergy: △

0

0

8

0

0

1

1

2

1

3

1

1

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

1

1

1

1

0

0

0

0

Sum

1

1

11

7

1

5

1

3

1

3

6

4

2

1

4

6

9

5

1

2

2

2

2

2

4

6

10

67

25

synergy10

indirect synergy

synergies

20
15
10
5
0

17 partnership
16 peace
15 land
14 ocean
13 climate
12 waste
11 city
10 equity
9 industry
8 work
7 energy
6 water
5 gender4 educa�on
3 health
2 hunger
1 poverty

knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources,
has many synergies with the articles of the Convention.
Not only the articles regarding cooperation among
parties, but also the articles regarding ASGM, interim
storage, waste management and contaminated sites
explicitly prescribe encouragement of cooperation among
parties, relevant intergovernmental organizations such as
the Basel Convention, WHO and ILO, and other entities.
It can be concluded that the Minamata Convention puts
great importance on partnerships in its implementation.
In fact, the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership is regarded
as one of the main mechanisms for delivery of immediate
actions on mercury, and current projects in the eightprioritized areas reflecting the major sources of mercury
release categories have been conducted with a wide rangeof stakeholders including the private sector (UNEP,
2019a).
Looking at the articles of the Convention, Article 7(ASGM) shows the widest coverage among the targets of
the SDGs. The ASGM provision under Article 7, Annex
C (i) explicitly addresses measures for vulnerable
populations as “strategies to prevent the exposure ofvulnerable populations, particularly children and womenof child-bearing age, especially pregnant women, tomercury used in artisanal and small-scale gold mining,”
who should be taken into account as important stakeholders in the SDGs.

Sodeno.indd△: indirect synergy

Target of SDGs
1.5

Article 3 Mercury supply
sources and trade

Article 7 Artisanal and smallscale gold mining (ASGM)

67

SDGs

Fig. 1 Synergies of the Minamata Convention with the 17 goals of
the SDGs.

Figure 1 summarizes those synergies, classifying
them into the 17 goals of the SDGs. It shows that the
Minamata Convention addresses Goal 17 (partnerships),
followed by Goal 12 (responsible consumption andproduction), and Goal 3 (health), in particular. In
addition, Goal 9 (industries, innovation andinfrastructure) is also an important area dealing with it in
the Convention. The Convention is regarded as covering
the SDGs in collaboration with environmental, social andeconomic measures.

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3.2 Trade-off Relationships
With respect to trade-off relationships between the
Minamata Convention and the SDGs, no strong negative
impacts, such as effects detrimental to other targets of theSDGs, have been observed. However, there are potential
trade-off relationships, which may constrain achievementof SDG targets to some extent. Table 2 shows a few
possible negative relationships between the Convention
and the SDGs. For instance, phasing out of thermometersand sphygmomanometers that use mercury may have anegative impact on accessing health care services (Target
3.8) for those who cannot afford electrical measurement.
Given the economic burden of coping withregulation under the Convention, the highest concern
should be paid to the relationship with economic growth(Target 8.1), which accounts for nine articles with tradeoff relationships. However, certain conditions,
exemptions, or special considerations are alreadyaccommodated in the Convention to minimize thenegative impact of regulation. For instance, current
mining of primary mercury is allowed for up to 15 years,
though primary mercury mining is basically banned under
Article 3. Also, the phase-outs of mercury-added products
have exemptions if those products are essential for civil
protection or military uses, or where no feasible mercuryfree alternative for replacement exists, for instance(Article 4).
The trade-off relationship with waste reduction(Target 12.5) needs more careful consideration in theimplementation of the Convention. To ban the use of
mercury results in generating wastes originating from theproducts or industrial processes in which mercury is used.
For instance, in accordance with Article 5,decommissioning of chlor-alkali facilities results ingeneration of significant amounts of excess mercury,which is estimated at approximately 10,456 tons globally(UNEP, 2013b), including 8,000 tons in the EU (COWI& BiPRO, 2015) and 1,200 tons in the US (DOE, 2011).
To prevent those huge amounts of mercury from reaching
the global market, under Paragraph 5 (b) of Article 3,
measures shall be taken so that excess mercury from thedecommissioning of chlor-alkali facilities is disposed of,
not to lead to recycling or re-use. This indicates a tradeoff relationship with Target 12.5.
With regard to reduction of mercury emissions to theatmosphere (Article 8), measures could include changes
in raw fuels or materials to those containing less mercury,or removal of mercury from exhaust gas. Considering thetotal material flow of mercury, the latter measure leads toincreased mercury waste, such as mercury-contaminatedsludge. In this context, Article 8 has a possible negative
impact on Target 12.5.

4. Discussion
4.1 Enhancement of Synergies
As the above analysis shows, the Minamata
Convention addresses all 17 goals of the SDGs with somegradation from strong to weak linkages. For further
development of the Minamata Convention, enhancementof synergies could be one option. In light of strengthening
its weak synergies, gender (Goal 5), which showed theweakest synergy with the Convention, should be one
target to consider. In the Convention, women of childbearing age, especially pregnant women are explicitly
addressed in terms of preventing their exposure tomercury through the ASGM process. It is estimated that
10 to 15 million miners, including 4 to 5 million womenand children, are involved in the ASMG sector (UNEP,
2019b). Since the predominant source sector is ASGM

Table 2 Potential trade-off relationships between the Minamata Convention and the SDGs.
Target of SDGs
1.2
Minamata Convention
reduce poverty

3.8

7.1

Article 3 Mercury supply sources and trade〇〇

Article 4 Mercury-added products〇

achieve full
employment

reduce waste
generation

〇
〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

〇

Article 9 Release to land and water〇〇

Article 10 Environmentally soundinterim storage of mercury〇

Article 11 Mercury wastes〇

Coal-fired power plants

Article 12 Contaminated sites
Sum

68

12.5

〇

〇

Article 8 Emissions to the atmosphere

Sodeno.indd

8.5

thermometer,sphygmomanometer

Article 5 Manufacturing processes
in which mercury are used
Article 7 Artisanal and small-scale
gold mining (ASGM)

8.1

access tosustain per
achieve universal
affordable
capita economic
health coverageenergy services
growth

〇

1

1

1

9

〇

2

5

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Analysis of the Minamata Convention on Mercury in the Context of SDGs
(about 38%) in mercury emissions to air (UNEP, 2018),
introducing cleaner technologies in the ASGM sector isan urgent issue together with continuous efforts atformalization, education and organization of miners. To
link these efforts to the promotion of the SDGs, it isrecommended to consider efforts leading to educationand empowerment of women. When an ASGM project
under a global partnership of the Convention isformulated, such gender perspectives should be taken into
account. Appropriate coordination among other on-goingprojects is recommended.
4.2 Consideration of Trade-off Relations
For the Convention to accommodate sustainability, itneeds to consider possible negative effect of policies. An
analysis of the trade-off relationships between theConvention and the SDG reveals that waste issues (Target
12.5) are the biggest concern. The regulations under the
Minamata Convention lead to increased amounts ofmercury waste, contrary to the SDGs. It should be noted
here that mercury waste is generated in two forms,
intentional and unintentional.
With respect to mercury waste emitted intentionally,
decommissioning of chlor-alkali facilities using mercury
in their processes, for instance, results in generation ofhuge amounts of waste mercury. In terms of preventing
mercury from being supplied to the market, it should beappreciated that the Convention prohibits recycling of
mercury and prescribes that mercury has to be dealt withas waste. What is important next is whether that mercury
waste is treated in an environmentally sound manner ornot.
With respect to mercury waste emitted
unintentionally, mercury contained as impurities in raw
fuel will continue to be emitted from, for example, nonferrous metal manufacturing industries and coal-fired
power plants. While mercury waste emitted intentionallywill decrease due to reductions in mercury use inprocesses and products, it should be borne in mind that
mercury waste emitted unintentionally will be
continuously generated in the future. Although mercury is
still a valuable metal on the global market and will beallowed to be used in certain products or processes that
the Convention permits, as a whole, it is obvious thatdemand for mercury will decline in the near future.
Therefore, as far as demand for mercury exists, themercury supply should consist of recycled mercury
recovered and purified from mercury waste and suppliedin place of primary mining. In fact, however, as statistics(USGS, 2017) show, primary mining of mercury has been
continuously increasing from 2,320 tons in 2013 to 3,790
tons in 2017, revealing that adjustment of primary mining
has not been progressing during these years since theConvention was adopted. Given these circumstances, theexception of existing primary mining that allows thatmining to continue for the next 15 years should bereconsidered.

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4.3 Challenges and Further Discussion
Along with implementation of the Convention, aremaining issue is how to certify long-term managementof mercury waste in an environmentally sound manner.
Even after demand for mercury nearly disappears in thenear future, mercury waste generated unintentionally willcontinue to be emitted every year. Sodeno and Takaoka(2017) estimate that the amount of surplus mercury willfluctuate from about – 2 to 35,000 tons in 2050,
depending on scenarios of mercury recovery from thenon-ferrous industry. Thus, proper management of
mercury waste is the next big challenge for theConvention. It should be noted that under the Convention,
details of mercury waste regulation are entrusted to
discussions under the Basel Convention. This
arrangement should be appreciated in terms of using
expertise in the community and promoting partnerships,
but concrete measures for regulating mercury waste have
yet to be determined other than prescribing that “mercury
waste is managed in an environmentally sound manner,”even though the “technical guidelines for theenvironmentally sound management of wastes consistingof elemental mercury and wastes containing or
contaminated with mercury” was produced under the
regime of the Basel Convention for the Minamata
Convention (UNEP, 2015). Although the EU and Japanlegislated final disposal of mercury such as mercury
sulphide in underground salt mines or hard rockformations or solidified forms in specially controlled
landfill sites (EU, 2017; Cabinet of Japan, 2015),
permanent mercury stabilization technologies are still
new and need further development for certification ofsafe long-term storage in the environment. Enhancementof mercury waste management capacity in developing
countries is also crucial, since many countries lacksufficient general waste management systems. Given that
there are only a few companies treating mercury waste
commercially in limited countries, a regional approachand establishment of partnerships could be considered interms of specialization of treatment. Further discussion isneeded on formulating a global mercury waste
management scheme.
With respect to the contribution of the Convention
for achieving the SDGs, a quantitative evaluation should
be a future consideration. It has been three years since theConvention was enacted, and the first national reports
have been provided by Parties based on Article 21. Usingthat information, further analysis through quantitativeevaluation should be considered, including setting
concrete targets for achieving the SDGs and indicating
comprehensive measures under the Convention.

5. Conclusions
This paper reveals that the Minamata Convention
addresses all 17 goals of the SDGs, covering the2020/07/30

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R. SODENO

environmental, social and economic spheres. It can beconcluded that the Convention contributes to achievementof a sustainable society. In terms of synergies between theConvention and the SDGs, health (Goal 3), responsible
consumption and production (Goal 12) and partnerships(Goal 17) have strong interlinkages. For further
development of the Convention, it is recommended that agender perspective be incorporated in implementation of
the Convention. In addition, as the Convention
emphasizes partnerships, comprehensive approaches forseeking synergies with other policies and enhancing
partnerships is important, connecting in areas such as air
pollution control, waste management policy, the Basel
Convention, the Paris Agreement and, additionally,education and job creation.
In the context of trade-off relationships, generationof mercury waste needs to be dealt with properly. Taking
into account the circumstances of developing countries, it
is recommended that mercury from primary mining needs
to be phased out in advance of the current schedule,
considering the balance between global supply fromrecovered mercury and demand for mercury. ASGM andmercury waste management are still the biggest concerns
for fulfillment of the Convention. Mercury neverdecomposes or vanishes. It is, therefore, essential toformulate a global scheme for safe mercury waste
management in the long term.
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Reiko SODENO
Reiko Sodeno, Ph.D., is a professor at Shibaura
Institute of Technology (SIT), Japan. Before
joining SIT, she worked for the Ministry of theEnvironment, Japan for twenty years handlingenvironmental issues such as waste management,
transboundary movement of hazardous waste, air
pollution control, groundwater conservation,international environmental cooperation and ozone layer protection. She
participated in a delegation to the OECD, after which she became an
associate professor at Keio University. Her main field of study isenvironmental policies from the perspective of sustainability, including
waste management policy, sustainable development indicators andlocalization of the SDGs. She received her Ph.D. in global environmental
studies from Kyoto University, M.Phil. in environmental policy from
Cambridge University in the UK, M.Sc in social development from the
University College of London, and M.Eng. in global environmental studies
from Kyoto University.
(Received 7 January 2020, Accepted 16 June 2020)

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