From Science to Action: Insights from the Minamata Convention and Emerging Priorities | Minamata COP-6 Online Event

About this Event

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste and Pollution (ISP-CWP) is a new, independent body that was established in Punta del Este, Uruguay, on 20 June 2025. As the chemicals, waste and pollution challenges intensify, there is a critical need for evidence-based policymaking that is effective and solution-oriented. ISP-CWP will assess knowledge, identify policy options, and catalyze action by strengthening the science-policy interface.

This online event explores how the Minamata Convention has effectively bridged science and policy—offering relevant examples for ISP-CWP and opportunities for cooperation between the two. It brings together policymakers, scientists, and stakeholders to reflect on Minamata’s science-policy interactions (e.g. assessments, monitoring) and to consider emerging priorities the new Panel could address, with a focus on metals, metalloids and minerals.

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed by speakers, moderators, and participants during this pre-COP-6 online event are those of the individuals concerned and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Secretariat of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

About Minamata COP-6 Online Events

Minamata COP-6 online events provide an informal platform for Parties and observers to share information and highlight advances in technology, research and policy for the attention of Parties and the global community that the Convention serves.

Speakers

By order of intervention.

Tessa GOVERSE

Head of the Interim Secretariat of ISP-CWP

Eisaku TODA

Senior Programme Management Officer, Minamata Convention Secretariat

Jinhui LI

Executive Director, Basel Convention Regional Center for Asia and the Pacific | Professor, School of Environment, Tsinghua University

Kateřina ŠEBKOVÁ

Director, Stockholm Convention Regional Centre for Capacity Building and the Transfer of Technology

Dominique Bally KPOKRO

Centre Africain pour la Santé Environnementale, Cote d’Ivoire

Vanessa ALIAGA

Second Secretary, Permanent Mission of Peru to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva

Elena LYMBERIDI-SETTIMO

Senior Advisor on Mercury, International co-coordinator Zero Mercury Working Group | UNEP GMP Products Area Co-lead

Asif QURESHI

Professor, Department of Civil Engineering & Department of Climate Change (Adjunct), Head, Department of Climate Change, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad

Heidi MORKA

Policy Director, Department for Marine Management and Pollution Control, Ministry of Climate and Environment, Norway

Nalini SHARMA

Programme Officer, Interim Secretariat of ISP-CWP | Moderator

Highlights

Video

Live on Webex.

Summary

Opening

Tessa GOVERSE | Head of the Interim Secretariat of ISP-CWP

• The event gathers diverse stakeholders to discuss the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste, and Pollution (ISPCWP)—particularly in relation to the Minamata Convention and the new panel.
• Preparations are underway for the first plenary session of the ISP-CWP, to be held from 2 to 6 February 2026, in Geneva, with stakeholder and regional consultations on 1 February 2026, hosted by the Swiss government. The discussion is timely, coming just before Minamata COP-6.
• The Minamata Convention is a valuable experience in turning scientific knowledge on mercury into policy—through assessments, monitoring, evaluations, and trade measures—and how these can inform broader international cooperation.
• The ISP-CWP, officially established on 20 June 2026, aims to strengthen the global science-policy interface for the sound management of chemicals and waste and pollution prevention. It joins other major science-policy panels such as the IPCC and those for biodiversity. The panel’s creation fulfills longstanding calls from governments, scientists, and NGOs to better coordinate global efforts on chemicals and pollution.
• As the panel begins its work, it is important to learn from existing mechanisms, building synergies, avoiding duplication, and ensuring that the panel’s work is inclusive, impactful, and grounded in real-world needs.
• The panel will be guided by principles promoting coordination and cooperation with other multilateral environmental agreements, while respecting their independence.
• Insights are invited on what has worked so far, where gaps remain, and how to ensure the new panel is responsive, relevant, and ready to meet future challenges.

Eisaku TODA | Senior Programme Management Officer, Minamata Convention Secretariat

• Regional preparatory meetings for the upcoming Minamata Convention COP-6 were recently held in Santiago, Geneva, Bangkok, and Nairobi, where presentations on the new panel were enthusiastically received, reflecting strong expectations from parties ahead of COP-6.
• A meeting document has been prepared containing a draft decision to:
  • Welcome the establishment of the panel;
  • Express interest in establishing a partnership with it to advance the Convention’s objectives;
  • Request cooperation between the Minamata Convention Secretariat and the panel’s Secretariat, including seeking observer status for the Convention in the panel’s plenary;
  • And request a scoping study on areas where strengthening the science-policy interface could support Convention implementation, developed with input from parties and in collaboration with the International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant (ICMGP), for consideration at Minamata COP-7.
• There is hope that COP-6 will adopt this decision and encourage all parties, stakeholders, and the secretariat to fully utilize the opportunities offered by the new panel to enhance the science-policy interface.

Panel Discussion

Jinhui LI | Executive Director, Basel Convention Regional Center for Asia and the Pacific | Professor, School of Environment, Tsinghua University

• The ISP-CWP—established in June is one of three major science-policy panels addressing the triple planetary crisis. This is an important opportunity to learn from the Minamata Convention, particularly its Global Monitoring Programme (GCMP) and effectiveness evaluation mechanism, which can serve as a blueprint for ensuring that ISP-CWP’s future assessments lead to impactful, evidence-based policies.
• For years, the global environmental architecture was incomplete—with the IPCC for climate change and IPBES for biodiversity, but no equivalent platform for chemicals, waste, and pollution. The ISP-CWP now fills this critical gap, with the mandate to provide authoritative, policy-relevant scientific advice. Its success will depend on integrating existing data and translating complex science into coherent global policy options.
• Main lessons from the Global Chemicals Monitoring Programme useful for the future of the panel include:
  • Monitoring should move beyond data collection toward long-term impact assessment.
  • Capacity-building is essential—helping developing countries close data gaps and track emerging threats (e.g., PFAS in water).
• UNEP is currently implementing the third phase of the global monitoring program to address data gaps, and as a regional center for the Stockholm Convention, its team supports 19 countries in the Asia-Pacific to generate high-quality, comparable data that strengthen the global POPs and mercury databases.
• The Minamata Convention’s effectiveness evaluation process is a science-based governance model, with two distinct but complementary groups, which ensures that science remains policy-relevant but non-prescriptive:
  • The Open-ended Scientific Group, ensuring scientific integrity and data analysis.
  • The Effectiveness Evaluation Group, which compares these findings with national implementation reports and provides recommendations to the COP.
• Science-policy integration under Minamata has led to tangible policy outcomes, such as new phase-out dates for mercury-added products and guidance on BAT/BEP, with China’s experience showing how locally generated data can enhance policy credibility and effectiveness.
• The ISP-CWP’s role is not to duplicate the work of existing conventions, but to serve as a “system integrator”—filling thematic gaps, identifying emerging threats, and addressing complex, cross-cutting pollution issues beyond the scope of any single multilateral agreement. The panel should also identify research gaps, guide scientific directions, and improve communication between scientists and policymakers.
• Finally, the ISP-CWP is called to:
  • Define strategic priorities and formalize a governance structure that separates scientific rigor from policy decision-making.
  • Develop a demand-driven work program, responding to requests from COPs or member states to ensure outputs meet real political needs.

With the GCMP’s data foundation, the Minamata mechanism’s governance model, and the ISP-CWP’s integrative role, the global community now has a unique opportunity to build a cohesive, science-based system for a healthier future.

Kateřina ŠEBKOVÁ | Director, Stockholm Convention Regional Centre for Capacity Building and the Transfer of Technology

• There is a critical need to not only generate data, but also to harmonize it—ensuring that monitoring procedures, methodologies, and quality assurance/quality control systems are consistent so that the resulting data is comparable and reliable. This harmonization is essential to strengthening the evidence base for understanding the scale and nature of global chemical pollution.
• Drawing from experience with three effectiveness evaluation cycles under the Stockholm Convention and current participation in the Minamata Convention’s evaluation committee, having structured, coded, and predictable information sources is important. A clear indicator framework is vital to ensuring that data can be used effectively in policy assessments. While the Stockholm Convention has developed a solid framework over time, the Minamata Convention—currently conducting its first evaluation—offers valuable lessons on data gaps, unclear information flows, and areas for improvement.
• Turning to the ISP-CWP, its role is broader than just supporting multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). It is a critical pillar for UNEP’s overall work on global chemicals management, encompassing not only the Stockholm and Minamata Conventions but also other relevant agreements such as the Montreal Protocol and issues concerning chemicals outside these conventions that still require global attention.
• The ISP-CWP’s emerging framework—through its expert groups and structures— is expected to facilitate collaboration across governments, the scientific community, international organizations, and global research networks, ensuring access to harmonized, high-quality, state-of-the-art knowledge for policy-making.
• The panel should both integrate the latest scientific evidence and creatively partner with initiatives that can bridge knowledge gaps. This will be key to improving the effectiveness evaluation of global chemicals management systems and enabling policymakers to make informed, science-based decisions.

Dominique Bally KPOKRO | Centre Africain pour la Santé Environnementale, Cote d’Ivoire

• Speaking as a practitioner involved in local implementation of the Minamata Convention, particularly in the artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector, field realities are shared. The latter are often overlooked in global policy discussions — emphasizing the need for a stronger science-policy interface that connects data, local knowledge, and community perspectives to decision-making.
• ASGM is widespread in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and remains the largest anthropogenic source of mercury pollution globally. The rising global gold price drives miners to intensify production and use mercury, often undermining Minamata Convention implementation at the national level.
• Looking at implementation challenges, several barriers exist:
  • Limited integration of local knowledge — Policymakers and regulators often have poor access to scientific information, and there is little translation of research into actionable policy.
  • Weak stakeholder inclusion — Local actors are rarely involved in addressing ASGM-related scientific and policy challenges.
  • Institutional and regulatory gaps — Bureaucratic licensing processes, corruption, and weak understanding of the ASGM ecosystem lead to ineffective or poorly enforced mercury legislation.
  • Difficulty domesticating multilateral agreements — Limited national capacity and weak technology uptake hinder progress.
  • Socioeconomic tensions. The economic dependence of miners and communities on mercury-based gold extraction creates resistance to change, especially in contexts of poverty and limited livelihood alternatives.
• To address these challenges, there is a need for a co-production of knowledge that connects scientific inquiry to real policy needs, for example:
  • Determining current mercury levels in ASGM-affected environments.
  • Identifying actions derived from scientific findings and evaluating their effectiveness in reducing mercury use.
  • A structured and inclusive dialogue involving key stakeholders—miners, communities, scientists, and policymakers—and for the use of digital tools and measurable indicators to inform and guide new regulations and institutional reforms.
• Looking at the Role of the ISP-CWP Panel, local realities must be central to the panel’s work. Effective implementation of the Minamata Convention depends on recognizing the social, economic, and environmental contexts of ASGM.
• To turn international commitments into tangible, lasting change, the ISP-CWP should:
  • Value local and indigenous knowledge alongside scientific data.
  • Structure inclusive dialogue between field practitioners and policymakers.
  • Equip institutions with the tools, data systems, and indicators needed to respond effectively.
• The ISP-CWP offers a unique opportunity to bridge global science and local action by integrating field voices into assessment, monitoring, and decision-making mechanisms, ensuring that policies are both evidence-based and grounded in lived experience.

Vanessa ALIAGA | Second Secretary, Permanent Mission of Peru to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva

• The ISP-CWP has a broad mandate, extending beyond mercury to address challenges across multiple metals and pollutants. Speaking from a policy perspective rather than a scientific one, several key knowledge gaps and challenges exist that the ISP-CWP could help address.
• There is a need for High-Resolution Exposure Data and Contamination Mapping. There is a major data gap: while many countries, such as Peru, have maps showing contaminated sites (e.g., mercury “hotspots”), these rarely track how contamination moves through rivers, wetlands, food chains, and other ecosystems.
• Without understanding this mobility and spread, policies and interventions are often reactive and ineffective, failing to match the pace of environmental contamination. The ISP-CWP could help by developing or supporting high-resolution monitoring systems that improve predictive policy responses, enabling better enforcement, health protection, and remediation planning.
• While mercury use in ASGM remains a major issue in Peru and elsewhere, other metal contaminants—including arsenic, lead, copper, and those from tailings dams—pose chronic threats to water, soil, crops, and fish. Current data on these contaminants is fragmented and insufficient, particularly regarding:
  • Cross-metal comparisons,
  • Links between human health and ecosystem contamination, and
  • Integrated exposure pathways.
• A holistic research is needed to examine multiple metals together and connect environmental and human exposure data rather than treating them separately.
• There is also an urgent need for comprehensive assessments of mercury alternatives—not only technical trials but also to generate and diffuse evidence that would help governments and decision-makers prioritize investments and promote sustainable, context-appropriate alternatives, such as:
  • Economic feasibility and cost data,
  • Social and gender impacts,
  • Effects on Indigenous and vulnerable communities,
  • Environmental impacts, and
  • Barriers to access and adoption.
• Currently, different national agencies often use inconsistent monitoring methods, standards, and data-sharing rules—even when tracking the same metals. This lack of harmonization makes data incomparable. The ISP-CWP could therefore provide guidelines and frameworks for standardized monitoring of metal contamination and for data harmonization across institutions and countries.
• We must also address cross-boundary contamination, as pointed out by the example of the Putumayo River, flowing from Ecuador to Peru, where contamination led to illness in downstream communities but where it was difficult to identify the source and coordinate remediation. This demonstrates the need for the ISP-CWP to serve as an external, neutral advisor offering technical guidance and methodologies for handling transboundary pollution disputes and cooperation.
• It is important to strengthen national laboratory capacity, train personnel, and secure funding for sustained monitoring and research. While such funding does not have to be managed by the ISP-CWP itself, the panel could play a vital role in identifying international financing sources and facilitating collaboration among donors, governments, and research institutions.
• From a Peruvian and broader regional perspective, the shared challenges across all metals—including data fragmentation, lack of harmonization, limited cross-boundary coordination, and insufficient resources—present clear areas where the ISP-CWP can add real value.
• By improving data integration, standardizing monitoring, and strengthening capacity and cooperation, the ISP-CWP can make a significant contribution to evidence-based policymaking and effective chemicals and pollution management globally.

Elena LYMBERIDI-SETTIMO | Senior Advisor on Mercury, International co-coordinator Zero Mercury Working Group | UNEP GMP Products Area Co-lead

• The Zero Mercury Working Group is a global coalition of over 110 NGOs in more than 55 countries, and has been working on mercury for over 20 years.
• Since the beginning, scientific knowledge has been essential to the Minamata Convention. The Global Mercury Assessment brought science to the table, which led to the negotiations and adoption of the Convention. Many of its operational articles rely on scientific evidence so that decisions can be made. The same happens now as we try to strengthen the Convention—more data leads to new reports and to changes and amendments. Mechanisms through the COP request scientific input and analysis, and this informs decisions, for example, on mercury trade, compounds, and the effectiveness evaluation. NGOs have also been bringing data and perspectives since before the Convention was adopted, which continues to help inform policy.
• When it comes to data and partnerships, the Secretariat often asks for information, but also benefits from the support of UNEP Global Mercury Partnership and the International Conference On Mercury As A Global Pollutant, which are great platforms for collaboration and data sharing. Data also comes from GEF, WHO, EU, and other mercury-related projects.
• There is still a need for harmonization and a proper basis for collecting and organizing all this data. The panel could help fill that gap. It could also help improve collaboration and transparency with industrial stakeholders, because sometimes non-transparency blocks access to information and delays decisions. Civil society can help bridge those gaps.
• It could also fill knowledge gaps, including data on mercury supply and stocks, how recycled mercury is used, on mercury compounds, and of course in ASGM. Other uses, such as mercury in products and alternatives like in vaccines, need more research. Mercury in skin-lightening creams is a growing issue, especially with exposure through online sales. Studies on chronic mercury poisoning and multi-system effects would also be helpful. The interaction of mercury with other chemicals, and links with climate change and releases, could be looked at, too.
• There is also a need for a better understanding of mercury in fish. Current limits are often more of a marketing tool than based on what is safe for people, and in some countries, like France, tuna has even been banned in schools because of this. Data from the Global South is also needed. A “one-stop shop” database for academic and research data on mercury and other metals would be very useful.
• It’s also important to ensure resources for inclusive and equitable participation and capacity building—training local scientists and experts, and making sure regional and national needs are addressed. Indigenous expertise and knowledge should also be included to have a more holistic understanding, for example linked to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• Transparency will be very important so that analysis can be used to support decisions and so that science becomes easier to understand for civil society and local policymakers. And finally, risk tolerance and ethical concerns, though not strictly scientific, do require broader societal input to make science useful for policy.
• The Zero Mercury Working Group contributes to closing the knowledge gap related to mercury for instance through the work on mercury in skin-lightening products. Since 2017, it has analyzed over a thousand creams worldwide, built a global database, and is helping governments with enforcement and tackling online sales. This is one way NGOs can contribute to filling knowledge gaps and supporting the Convention’s implementation.

Asif QURESHI | Professor, Department of Civil Engineering & Department of Climate Change (Adjunct), Head, Department of Climate Change, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad

• The International Conference On Mercury As A Global Pollutant (ICMGP) is a key gathering of scientists studying all aspects of the mercury cycle, from emissions and processing to health and policy. The ICMGP’s close collaboration with the Minamata Convention is considered a success story of how science and policy can effectively interact.
• Over time, the conference has achieved a wider geographical reach, now rotating through different regions to ensure global representation while maintaining continuity through an advisory board linking past and future hosts.
• ICMGP has long recognized the importance of linking science and policy, as reflected in past conference themes such as “Science Informing Global Policy,” “Integrating Mercury Research and Policy,” and “Ten Years of Minamata Convention Implementation.” Plenary and special sessions consistently focus on convention-related topics like effectiveness evaluation, artisanal and ASGM, policy modeling, biomonitoring, and the science-policy interface.
• Participation has become increasingly diverse, including strong representation from the Global South, gender balance, and intergenerational exchange among scientists — ensuring the transfer of knowledge and capacity across regions.
• The ICMGP also benefits from strong scientific networks and national monitoring programs, which generate data directly relevant to Minamata Convention processes.
• The collaboration is two-way: while scientists contribute data and analysis to support convention decisions, the Convention Secretariat engages the academic community through initiatives such as Minamata Online and expert meetings held alongside ICMGP events. This mutual engagement enhances both scientific understanding and policy relevance.
• This continuous cooperation between the ICMGP and the Minamata Convention offers a model for the ISP-CWP.
• Key lessons include the need for:
  • Broad geographical coverage and inclusion of emerging economies and resource-rich regions;
  • Comprehensive scientific scope across the full chemical life cycle; and
  • Ongoing two-way engagement between scientists and policymakers through dedicated, targeted sessions and collaboration with existing networks.
• This approach will help ensure that science and policy remain closely aligned in addressing chemical pollution globally.

Heidi MORKA | Policy Director, Department for Marine Management and Pollution Control, Ministry of Climate and Environment, Norway

• Norway expresses strong appreciation for the establishment of the new ISP-CWP, an important milestone in tackling the planetary crisis of chemicals, waste, and pollution.
• Drawing from today’s presentations, the experience gained from the science-policy cooperation under the Minamata Convention and related initiatives offers valuable lessons as the new panel becomes operational.
• With the first Open-Ended Working Group of the Global Framework on Chemicals completed, and Minamata COP-6 and the 7th session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) approaching, while much is known about the hazards of heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, and mercury, significant knowledge gaps remain on technical and economically viable alternatives.
• Mercury pollution from dental amalgam remains a major concern despite available alternatives and there is a need for further progress at COP-6. It is also important to move beyond a chemical-by-chemical approach toward integrated strategies, especially for groups like PFAS and other perfluorinated substances.
• Norway encouraged the ISP to help identify knowledge gaps, compile and share existing data, and support global cooperation, particularly through better information sharing with regulators, industry, and the public — especially in the Global South.
• There is an urgent need for all governments and stakeholders to actively support the first plenary session in February 2026, so that the panel can begin substantive work without delay.

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Documents

• Presentations made during the event

Links

• Towards the Sixth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP-6)
• Briefing on the 6th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury