The meeting, which will open on July 21st, makes South Africa the first African nation to host this type of encounter that focuses only on one element.

Deputy Minister Narend Singh will be officially opening the conference.

The first ICMGP Conference was celebrated in Sweden in 1990 with the participation of 78 delegates, the Government recalled in a press release.

The ICMGP has been a fundamental gathering for sharing and assessing knowledge on mercury as a global environmental pollutant, and identifying solutions to reducing releases, emissions, and exposures to this waste material.

Research presented at earlier ICMGPs had been pivotal in countries becoming signatories to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (signed in Japan in 2013), which seeks to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury.

According to the Ministry, due to South Africa’s primary reliance on coal for power generation, there is considerable international interest in the country’s mercury emissions.

Thus, research conducted by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) during the Minamata Convention negotiations highlighted how South Africa is a major emitter of mercury in Africa.

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