by Connor Moulton

This Sunday kicked off the first ever Chemical Waste Youth Platform (CWYP) in-person committee sessions at the Centre International de Conferences Geneve (CiCG). CWYP is a pilot program designed to give youth and younger professionals the platform to join in on discussions and aim to influence the endeavors in which Parties align themselves with at the Minamata Convention. As the Fall 2025 SU cohort were arriving to Geneva, Switzerland this morning, the CWYP began with opening statements from Mercury Youth Task Force co-lead Alexyss McClellan-Ufugusuku and Minamata Secretariat Richard Gutierrez. Alexyss then moderated a panel on the International Indian Treaty Council and OHCHR, hearing from Tauki Indigenous Rights Think Tank (Māori – the Pacific) representative Janell Dymus-Kurei, Indigenous Peoples Rights International (Nakota and Nehiyaw – North America) representative Heather O-Watch, Red de Jóvenes Indígenas de América Latina y el Caribe (Pasto – Latin America and the Caribbean) representative Diana Maria Tapie Cuaical, Kufa University Medical Student (Bedouin – West Asia and North Africa) representative Assalah Hussein Meteab Al-Hadrawi, Environmental Engineering Student at Sudan University of Science and Technology (Nubian – Africa) Nasraldeen Mohammed Ahmed Adam, and Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation and Global Indigenous Youth Caucus (Khmer-Krom – Asia) representative Emily Thanh Hang.

Syracuse University students were able to make it to the next panel, of which was led by another co-lead of the Mercury Youth Task Force, Hemavathi S Shekhar, focusing in on providing youth-led pollution solutions to the Minamata Convention specifically. She was joined by Takaaki Murata; Officer of Mercury and International Chemicals Management, Ministry of Environment Japan, Belinda Mensah; All-African Students Union representative (Ghana), Iwasaka Mio and Motoyama Norimi; Minamata High School students (Japan); Jackelin Chávez; Geological engineer (Peru), and Chelsea Bernardette Paspalau; Young marine science and fisheries researcher, Aileen Mioko Smith; Executive Director of Green Action in Japan, author of Minamata, Fernando Trujillo; Rolex National Geographic explorer, and Jorge Bodanzky; Amazon, the New Minamata? film director.

Pictured (left) are the panelists as they give their insights to their experience with mercury pollution and the awareness their peers had on the Minamata Convention. Chelsea gave context into advocating for marine/ocean health and the importance of using adaptive solutions to educate youth. She explained how developing narratives can inspire initiatives to lead people into further action on handling specific public health issues. There are setbacks to note of course, where people of Papua New Guinea face a decline in the numbers of ‘mercury-safe’ fish, a lack of locally based infrastructure to combat treatment of current emission sources, all of which in in an economy that depend on agriculture and fishing. Fernando touched on the importance of understanding a person’s own individual health, making sure individuals are educating themselves on what specific factors impact their immediate surroundings. He suggested that people get mercury tests done and advised youth to be persistent in the advocacy of targeting sources when stating positions to delegates at the Minamata Convention. Jorge Bodanzky provided a general overview of his film of the Amazon, where it focuses on the insights of Indigenous Chiefs and their views of mercury contamination. The idea of developing a narrative at the Convention resurfaced in Aileen’s discussion, emphasizing the need to simply spread messaging far and wide. It was proposed that a database should be made for youth to post personal and technical anecdotes on mercury advocacy. The Minamata students provided personal stories on their time growing up in Minamata, noting how many fellow peers did not have an understanding of the true impacts of the Minamata mercury catastrophe and the presence of the Minamata Convention. This point holds true to what the other panelists noted: efforts of outreach and change are essential to be acted upon at a local and communal level.

The next panel was moderated by environmental health research specialist and Indigenous scientist Anpotowin Jensen, leading the panelists into debriefing on centering children’s rights and health at the core of the Convention. The panel included Lyn Greer; Communications Consultant, Children’s Environmental Health Collaborative, UNICEF, Maria Jose Talayero Schettino; Little Things Matter and Chemicals and Waste Youth Platform Children’s Environmental Health Thematic Focal Point, Elena Jardan; World Health Organization, and Florian Schulze; World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry / European Network for Environmental Medicine representative. Elena first touched upon how chemical exposure is irreversible, contains multiple exposure pathways, and how different manufacturing and labor practices pertaining to mercury can contribute to Minamata disease. We took away the idea that policy needs to reflect focused leadership, more specifically in language that covers the integration of mercury into societal uses. Lyn informed us on the factors that go into the vulnerability of children, highlighting how mercury rapidly grows in immature bodily systems. Florian expanded on dental amalgam usage for children, informing us that in developing bodies (youth), it acts as a neurotoxin that hinders the proper development of the brain. COP 4 did address this by banning the use of dental amalgams for kids under the age of 15. The European Union also took measures to ban the use of it entirely.

The final panelist session was hosted by Shannon Lisa, the global focal point for the Chemicals and Waste Youth Platform, leading exchange of various Parties and additional stakeholders on youth engagement for the Convention. This panel included Miriam Medel García; Head of Environment Team, Permanent Mission of Mexico in Geneva, Mohamed Abdulai Kamara; Senior Environment Officer, Environment Protection Agency Sierra Leone, Ivo de Zwaan; Lead Negotiator Chemicals and Wastes, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Julie Berg Damkjaer; Ministry of the Environment and Gender Equality, Denmark, and Raphaëlle Catté; Policy Officer for Mercury, Zero Mercury Working Group. Mohamed stated how labor and employment conditions are too often overlooked, alluding that safety components in chemical related work should be prioritized, especially for youth who reside in developing countries, pointing out that those areas face disproportional health impacts. A representative from Switzerland joined the dialogue and emphasized youth congregations to continue to organize and set agendas as a way of establishing credibility to varying Parties at the Minamata Convention. She went as far to infer that countries not ratified Minamata Convention: could be influenced by scientific and youth led voices. Miriam brought the perspective of how historically, many youth advocates on environmental issues tend to lean into an oversaturated belief of trying to combat climate change as a whole. It is important to focus more attention on mercury contamination (for Minamata specifically), as Parties will be more likely to support your cause. Concise and direct is the way to go! Ivo followed up and noted how both youth advocates and party representatives should mutually be engaging in dialogue early on, meaning conversation should be held far in advanced to Minamata, so when Parties attend COP, they have a more established position that can align more closely to the ideals of the youth.

After the closing addresses were made, the SU cohort made their way to the main conference room that the COP 6 will be taking place in for the rest of the week. Inside the conference room there were hundreds of delegation plaques, from member government entities, NGO’s, additional advocacy workers and observers. Pictured below is the Fall 2025 SU cohort behind the table of the head delegates moderating the discussions at COP 6 (left) and gathered around the United States delegation’s reserved section (right).

Saying goodbye to the Parties for the day, it’s time to party for the evening! Dr. Todorova and the cohort got some more experience navigating the tram systems scattered around Geneva. Making our way to the hub of the city, we stopped into the Holy Cow! Gourmet Burger Co. 10/10 burger; 11/10 French fries! After, most of the cohort went to walk around the street, alleys, and shops scattered alongside the river. One location of note was the St. Pierre Cathedral (see pictures below). This cathedral could easily hold hundreds of people. With intricate stain glass windows and architectural influences from Romanesque, Gothic, and Neoclassical styles, it is definitely a sight to be seen!

Onto Day 1 of COP 6’s Minamata Convention on Mercury!