In five years of the ratification of the Minamata Convention, the Moldovan authorities say they have made progress in reducing the sources of mercury pollution. In 2022, the import of products that contain mercury was banned and the infrastructure for managing hazardous waste is now being created. Also, work is done to improve the legal framework so as to ensure a clean and healthy environment without suffocating the economy, representatives of the Ministry of Environment and the Secretariat of the Minamata Convention stated in a press briefing, being quoted by IPN.
Iordanca-Rodica Iordanov, secretary of state at the Ministry of Environment, said the environmental authorities have good experience that they can share with counterparts from other states and can also borrow many other things for implementing them in Moldova. The country can learn from other countries’ experience in managing metallic mercury, registering and reporting waste, trafficking in waste, etc. “We are working on a medium- and long-term approach so as to have an efficient legal framework, sufficient technologies and investment and to be able to coexist in a healthy environment. We should also create health and life conditions for the citizens, while the business climate should not be suffocated by products containing such substances as mercury,” said the functionary.
Representatives of the Executive Secretariat of the Minamata Convention said that one of the strong points of the Convention is that particular legally binding obligations were introduced for the member states to manage the whole life cycle related to mercury. The Convention stipulates a financial mechanism for 2022-2026. There are states that made contributions and US$5 billion was provided for performing different environmental protection activities at global level. Also, US$265 million was offered in assistance to support the implementation of the activities defined by the Convention.
The press briefing was held in connection with a regional workshop that involves representatives of countries that signed the Minamata Convention on Mercury. The Republic of Moldova ratified the Convention in 2017. The document aims to protect human health and the environment and to control and reduce anthropogenic emissions of mercury and mercury compounds to air, water and land.
