MINAMATA Convention in 2022
The Minamata Convention Progress Report 2022 provides an update on the latest developments under the Minamata Convention on Mercury, which includes the achievements of COP-4, such as the amendment of the Convention to ban eight additional mercury-added products, reducing mercury demand, exposure and waste. The report also highlights the creation of a scientific group that will provide data on the presence and movement of mercury in the environment.
Additionally, the report mentions that over 90% of Parties submitted their first full national reports on the implementation of the Convention, which provides a clear picture of their needs and challenges. It emphasizes the expanding cooperation among the secretariats of Multilateral Environmental Agreements and outlines the linkages with gender, biodiversity, and knowledge management.
The publication also acknowledges that more work needs to be done to fully achieve the Convention's objective. This includes improving monitoring and reporting of mercury emissions, strengthening the capacity of developing countries to implement the Convention, and increasing public awareness of the risks of mercury exposure.
Overall, the Minamata Convention Progress Report 2022 provides a comprehensive overview of the progress made in implementing the Convention in 2022, while also identifying the challenges that need to be addressed to #MakeMercuryHistory.
Metrology training course results
The GMOS-Train Metrology training course (29 – 30 Sept 2022) was hosted virtually by the Jožef Stefan Institute to provide basic concepts and knowledge about measurement uncertainty and traceability in chemical analyses. Dr. Igor Živković and prof. dr. Milena Horvat organized a series of lectures for all early-stage researchers (ESRs) of the Marie Skłodowska Curie ITN so they would be able to calculate the measurement uncertainties of their own mercury analysis in the environment. Following the training course, ESRs had regular video-chat consultations with the lecturers to help them calculate the measurement uncertainties of their analytical methods and to determine the main contribution components of their uncertainties. Their results were presented to an audience of about thirty participants at the GMOS-Train annual meeting (6 – 8 Mar 2023) at the ZMAW in Hamburg.
GMOS-Train winter school on modelling a great success
„The GMOS-TRAIN winter school on modelling (6th Feb – 3rd Mar, 2023) was a great success. The Hereon experts on numerical modeling, Dr. Johannes Bieser and Dr. Martin Ramacher, hosted a four week winter school in Hamburg for eight early stage researchers (ESR) of the Marie Sklodowska Curie ITN. In the first week lectures on basic concepts of numerical modeling were held by the likes of Hans v. Storch and other renown experts in the field. This was followed by a 3 week hackathon, in which the ESRs applied these concepts to numerical modeling projects focusing on their research on mercury in the environment. After the 4 week course, the GMOS-Train annual meeting (6th Mar – 8th Mar 2023) was hosted by Hereon at the ZMAW in Hamburg. There, the ESRs presented their modelling studies with presentations and a poster session to about 30 participants. The highly promising modelling projects that started in the GMOS-TRAIN winter school are now being followed up, used for further research in the ESRs PhD research and prepared for publications.”
