Japan impede the Minamata Convention on Mercury Progress?
All fluorescent lamps contain mercury, a neurotoxin that can cause harmful and long-term health effects. When a fluorescent light is broken or improperly disposed of, the mercury from the light contaminates the atmosphere, land, and water – posing a risk to public health and safety. Last year, at the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties in 2022, the Minamata Convention on Mercury attempted to agree on the global elimination of linear fluorescent lamps, which use mercury, by 2025. However, several countries, including Japan, opposed the agreement, and the parties could not reach a consensus.
The Japanese Government and the Japan Lighting Manufacturers Association (JLMA), an industry association, have already stated their opposition this year.
Therefore, we, the Clean Lighting Coalition, have launched a campaign to ask the Japanese Government for its support at the 5th Conference of the Parties to be held in October this year so that the world can agree to phase out straight tube fluorescent lamps by 2025.
In this briefing, we will explain why linear fluorescent lamps should be phased out by 2025, their impact at home and abroad, the background to the obstacles to Japanese support, and proposed solutions.
Place: NGO Media Centre, 2edRoom
(Hiroshima City Youth Centre 2F / 5-61 Motomachi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture)
Day and time: 2023, 20th May (Sat), 17:00-18:00(JST)
Program:
1. Three reasons why Japan must support the phase-out of linear fluorescent lamps by 2025
-Mariko Arikawa, Japan Campaign Coordinator, Clean Lighting Coalition
2. The reasons why Japan is blocking the shift to LEDs and the solutions
-Hiraku Yamami, Clean Lighting Coalition Japan Campaign Technical Officer
3. Q&A time
<Contact>
- Public Relations: Mariko Arikawa（Ms.） [Japanese/English] – [email protected]
- Technical contact: Hiraku Yamami（Mr.） [Japanese] – [email protected]
The Clean Lighting Coalition (https://cleanlightingcoalition.org/) is a US-based NGO. The CLASP (https://www.clasp.ngo/), an international community coordinated by the US NGO, aims to eliminate mercury-based lighting through the Minamata Convention on Mercury and to transition the global market to mercury-free, low energy-consuming, and cost-effective LED lighting. The aim is to eliminate the use of mercury in lighting through the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
Japanese: https://cleanlightingcoalition.org/ja-japan-clean-lighting/
English: https://cleanlightingcoalition.org/clean-lighting-in-japan/
