15th ICCL Meeting: Experts share experiences, collaborate on addressing mercury, contaminated sites

The 15th International Committee on Contaminated Land (ICCL) Meeting took place from 17 to 18 October in Bern, Switzerland, including a hybrid session on the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

This technical session, held on 17 October, focused on mercury and contaminated sites, sharing national challenges and experiences, case studies and advancements in technologies and management strategies for addressing mercury contamination.

Speakers from environmental ministries and organizations from all over the world exchanged their experiences in countries such as Botswana, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Peru, Slovenia, Spain, Uganda, and others. One of the highlights was North Macedonia’s presentation of the Specific International Programme project “Strengthening national capacities for the Minamata Convention implementation with focus on development of strategy for assessing the site contaminated by mercury”.

Hosted by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), this biennial ICCL event brought together experts in the field of remediation of contaminated land, government departments and non-governmental organizations and businesses. The ICCL serves as an international network of contaminated land policy makers, regulators, experts and technical advisors exchanging best practices and collaborating on policies for managing contaminated land.