PH Participates in Historic First Conference of Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury

DENR Undersecretary and Chief of Staff, Gen. Rodolfo C. Garcia (third from right) is shown with Ministers and senior environment  officials  who attended the interactive dialogue with United Nations officials and heads of other institutions committing to action on the Minamata Convention at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on 28 September 2017

10 October 2017 GENEVA – The Philippines joined the international community in a global dialogue to address mercury pollution at the first ever Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP1) in Geneva, Switzerland from September 24 to 28.

Undersecretary and Chief of Staff Gen. Rodolfo C. Garcia of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) headed the Philippine delegation to the Conference, which gathered over 1,000 participants representing governments, international organizations, non-government organizations, and experts.  

With the theme, “Making Mercury History,” the Conference exchanged views on the best practices and challenges in the implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury and how to better address mercury pollution in land, air and water at the global, regional and national level.

At the Ministerial sessions, the Philippines emphasized the government agenda to protect human health and the environment, and  shared its experience and challenges in instituting policy reforms and strengthening compliance and enforcement programs towards controlling mercury pollution and preventing further releases of mercury in the environment.

The Philippines became one of the 128 signatories to the Convention during the Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Kyoto, Japan on 10 October 2013. END

For more information, visit www.genevapm.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/genevapcg.