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GEF Report to COP3
The third meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP3) took place from 25 to 29 November 2019 at the International Conference Centre in Geneva, Switzerland.
At its second meeting, the Conference of the Parties called for intersessional work to be carried out, and invited submissions from Parties and interested stakeholders on a number of issues to be considered further at COP3.
The GEF is part of the Financial Mechanism to the Minamata Convention. At COP3 the GEF presented the report of all activities and projects funded on mercury since the last COP in 2018.
planetGOLD: solutions for the ASGM sector
Date
Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is the largest anthropogenic source of mercury globally. Under the Minamata Convention on Mercury, parties agreed to take steps to reduce, and where feasible eliminate the use of mercury and mercury compounds from ASGM. To address this sector, the GEF approved a $45 million global program, Global Opportunities for Long Term Development of the ASGM Sector (GEF GOLD). This program now has its own identity and is branded planetGOLD.
The event presented the newly launched planetGOLD program, highlighting some of the main issues associated with the ASGM sector, including formalization, finance, and alternative technologies to mercury.
Speakers:
- Anil Sookdeo, GEF
- Mariscia Charles, Ministry of Natural Resources, Guyana
- Dewi Krisnayanti, National Project Coordinator, planetGOLD Indonesia project
- Patience Singo, Advisor, IMPACT
- Priya Bala-Miller, Canadian International Resources and Development Institute (CIRDI), and Chair, Programme Advisory Group, planetGOLD
