Summary

Pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 45/17, the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, Marcos Orellana, presents to the Council his annual thematic report, which is dedicated to the harms and risks for human rights of the use of mercury in small-scale gold mining. Mercury is a persistent heavy metal, hazardous to human health and the environment, whose release from mining activities is contaminating lands, rivers and oceans on a global scale and harming human health. Small-scale gold mining is the world’s largest emitter of mercury into the environment. Yet, international arrangements for the control of mercury in small-scale gold mining have gaps and shortcomings. The Special Rapporteur examines the human rights violations and environmental injustices, including the structural racism suffered by indigenous peoples, that result from mercury use in small-scale gold mining.