National Team discusses Qatar’s obligations at Minamata Convention

QNA Doha The Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) on Monday held the first meeting for members of the National Team for the Minamata Convention ...

QNA DohaThe Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) on Monday held the first meeting for members of the National Team for the Minamata Convention with the participation of the authorities concerned.The meeting discussed the obligations of Qatar after joining the convention and the role of each authority and future plans. The National Team will list the facilities, quantities and mercury waste in the country.The convention, which Qatar acceded to last year, aims to protect human health and the environment from mercury emissions and its anthropogenic releases, move to safe alternatives and encourage awareness, training and prevention programmes for individuals and professional workers in order to raise awareness about mercury and its damages and reduce the pollution it causes.The Minamata Convention, which entered into force on August 16, 2017, is an international treaty of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) which aims at protecting humans from the risk of the emissions of mercury and mercury compounds.The convention was adopted and signed on October 10, 2013 at a conference in Kumamoto in Japan. It was named after the Japanese city of Minamata, where a mercury poisoning disaster killed hundreds of people and infected more than 200,000 others with chronic diseases in May 1956.