Images: Faces at opening session of Minamata Convention COP2 in Switzerland

Picture Caption: Cross section of participants at the opening session of the Minamata Convention COP2 in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday November 19, 2018.

The second meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP2) commenced on Monday 19 November, 2018 which will continue up to 23 November, 2018 at the International Conference Centre in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Conference was preceded on Sunday 18 November by preparatory meetings, including regional and other meetings.
The Minamata Convention on Mercury is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury. It was agreed at the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on mercury in Geneva, Switzerland at 7 a.m. on the morning of Saturday, 19 January 2013 and adopted later that year on 10 October 2013 at a Diplomatic Conference (Conference of Plenipotentiaries), held in Kumamoto, Japan.
The Minamata Convention entered into force on 16 August 2017, on the 90th day after the date of deposit of the 50th instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.

The weeklong conference will focus on implementation of the text of the Minamata Convention. Already, a group of activists under the aegis of World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry have called on nations to end use of dental amalgam in children by 2020.