| Full name | Reducing Mercury Supply and Availability in Indonesia |
|---|---|
| Organisation | Biodiversity Research Institute and Nexus3 Foundation (lead) |
| Partners | International Pollutants Elimination Network; Center for Regulation, Policy and Governance; Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime |
| Funder | United States Department of State (grant S-LMAQM-18-CA-2095) |
| Location | Indonesia |
Merkuri (Indonesian for "mercury") is the name under which the Center for Regulation, Policy and Governance (CRPG) records its part in Reducing Mercury Supply and Availability in Indonesia (Pengurangan Pasokan dan Ketersediaan Merkuri di Indonesia), a three-year project to support the Government of Indonesia in restricting the supply and availability of mercury, above all to artisanal and small-scale gold mining (pertambangan emas skala kecil, PESK). The project was led by the Biodiversity Research Institute and the Nexus3 Foundation, carried out with the International Pollutants Elimination Network, CRPG and the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, and funded by a grant of the United States Department of State.[1][2][3]
The project's subject lies where the regulation of small-scale mining, surveyed at mining and energy regulation in Indonesia, meets the control of hazardous substances described at hazardous waste regulation in Indonesia. Its policy setting was Indonesia's ratification of the Minamata Convention on Mercury by Undang-Undang 11/2017 and the national action plan on the reduction and elimination of mercury adopted by Peraturan Presiden 21/2019, which set the elimination of mercury from small-scale gold mining by 2025 as one of its targets.[4][5]
CRPG's contribution, as its project page describes it, was legal and regulatory: reviews of the rules on the trade, export and distribution of mercury and on the mining and trade of cinnabar, a database of court decisions on mercury and cinnabar, support to the Attorney General's Office on draft guidelines for handling seized mercury, and stakeholder discussions held in 2023.[3:1]
The preamble of Peraturan Presiden 21/2019 describes mercury as a hazardous and toxic substance that is persistent and accumulates in living things, and records that it is widely used in small-scale gold mining, manufacturing, energy and health care, with the potential for serious effects on health and the environment. Among its legal bases are Undang-Undang 11/2017, by which Indonesia ratified the Minamata Convention on Mercury, the 2009 mining law and Undang-Undang 32/2009 on environmental protection and management. The regulation was signed on 22 April 2019 and promulgated on 26 April 2019 in Lembaran Negara 2019 No. 73.[4:1][6]
The national action plan it adopts (Rencana Aksi Nasional Pengurangan dan Penghapusan Merkuri, RAN-PPM) gives priority to four fields - manufacturing, energy, small-scale gold mining and health - and runs from 2018 to 2030, with 2018 as the baseline year against which success is measured. It sets the elimination of 100 per cent of mercury in small-scale gold mining by 2025 and in health care by 2020, and reductions of 50 per cent in manufacturing and 33.2 per cent in energy by 2030. The strategies for elimination include the application of mercury-free gold-processing technology, alternative livelihoods for local communities and the strengthening of law enforcement.[7] Governors and regents or mayors must prepare regional action plans (RAD-PPM), adopted by governor's and regent's or mayor's regulations, with the assistance of the central government.[8]
CRPG's project page summarises the same framework and states that 180 to 220 small-scale gold-mining sites using mercury, spread over 30 provinces, had been identified and taken as the 2018 baseline.[3:2]
The Nexus3 Foundation describes four components: legal, regulatory and policy action to restrict the supply of mercury produced by mining and of mercury by-products from other activities; a plan to reduce illegal import and export of mercury; a plan for the safe storage of mercury waste and elemental mercury, mercury-added medical devices and cinnabar; and mercury monitoring to measure the effects on human and ecological health and to prioritise the selection and preparation of regional action plans.[1:1]
CRPG's page states the aims of the work in similar terms: rules and policies to limit the supply of mercury from cinnabar mines and from the oil and gas industry; the preparation and piloting of regional action plans to reduce and eliminate mercury in small-scale gold mining, including safe handling and the temporary and final storage of mercury and cinnabar so that they do not return to the market; and the monitoring of the national and regional action plans.[3:3]
According to its project page, CRPG reviewed the regulations on the trade, export and distribution of mercury in Indonesia, and the mining and trade of cinnabar and mercury; compiled a database of court decisions concerning mercury and cinnabar; supported the Attorney General's Office (Kejaksaan Agung) in preparing draft guidelines on the handling of mercury held as evidence or seized; and held discussions and webinars with stakeholders. The page lists a side event before the second segment of the fourth Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention, on implementing local action plans to reduce mercury use in small-scale gold mining, and focus-group discussions with stakeholders on 11 July 2023 and 9 August 2023.[3:4] It also links press coverage of mercury crime and enforcement from 2019, among it reports by Mongabay, Antara and Harian Neraca.[3:5]
K38[E] "Merkuri", Nexus3 Foundation, nexus3foundation.org (in Indonesian). https://nexus3foundation.org/programs/merkuri Describes Pengurangan Pasokan dan Ketersediaan Merkuri di Indonesia (U.S. Department of State grant No. S-LMAQM-18-CA-2095) as a three-year collaboration of BRI, Nexus3 Foundation, IPEN, CRPG and GITOC, and lists its four components. ↩︎ ↩︎
[E] "Reducing Mercury Supply and Availability in Indonesia", planetGOLD, planetgold.org. https://www.planetgold.org/reducing-mercury-supply-and-availability-indonesia Names BRI and Nexus3 as leading the three-year project with other non-governmental organisations. ↩︎
[E] "Merkuri", CRPG, crpg.id, 25 July 2023 (in Indonesian). https://crpg.id/merkuri/ CRPG's own project page, cited for CRPG's role, aims and activities and for its summary of the policy framework. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
[P] Peraturan Presiden Nomor 21 Tahun 2019 tentang Rencana Aksi Nasional Pengurangan dan Penghapusan Merkuri, preamble, Menimbang huruf a and b and Mengingat (including Undang-Undang Nomor 11 Tahun 2017 tentang Pengesahan Minamata Convention on Mercury, LN 2017 No. 209, TLN 6125; Undang-Undang Nomor 4 Tahun 2009; Undang-Undang Nomor 32 Tahun 2009). regulation_id PERPRES_21_2019. ↩︎ ↩︎
[P] Perpres 21/2019, Pasal 4 ayat (1) huruf b. regulation_id PERPRES_21_2019. ↩︎
[P] Perpres 21/2019, closing formula (Ditetapkan di Jakarta pada tanggal 22 April 2019; Diundangkan di Jakarta pada tanggal 26 April 2019; LN 2019 No. 73). regulation_id PERPRES_21_2019. ↩︎
[P] Perpres 21/2019, Pasal 2 ayat (2) to (4), Pasal 3 ayat (2) and Pasal 4 ayat (1). regulation_id PERPRES_21_2019. ↩︎
[P] Perpres 21/2019, Pasal 6 ayat (1) to (6). regulation_id PERPRES_21_2019. ↩︎