水銀被害の根絶を目指して Aiming to exterminate the damage resulting from mercury pollution
水俣病は終わっていない Ongoing battle against the Minamata disease
国際的な水銀規制のルールを定めた「水俣条約」が発効した。水銀による環境汚染や健康被害を防ぐため、採掘や使用に加え、輸出入なども含めた包括的な管理に取り組む。
The Minamata Convention, an international treaty providing for rules on regulating mercury, came into effect. In order to prevent environmental pollution and health damage resulting from mercury, the treaty works at comprehensive management of mercury, covering matters such as mining and use as well as import and export.
条約には、新規の水銀鉱山の開発禁止、一定量以上の水銀を使った蛍光灯や体温計などの製造・輸出入の禁止、水銀廃棄物の適正管理―などが盛り込まれた。2013年の国際会議で採択、その後、締約国が50を超え、発効が決まった。日本やアメリカ、中国やヨーロッパ連合（EU）、アフリカ諸国などの国と地域が締結している。
The topics incorporated into the treaty include the following: ban on development of new mercury mines; ban on manufacture, import, and export of products such as fluorescent lights and thermometers containing mercury over a certain amount; and appropriate management of mercury waste. The treaty was adopted at an international conference held in 201, and later it came into effect as the number of member states grew over 50. Countries and regions, including Japan, the US, China, and EU, as well as African nations have entered into the treaty.
条約名には、メチル水銀によって深刻な神経障害を引き起こした水俣病のような健康被害を二度と繰り返してはならないという決意が込められている。
The treaty is named with the determination that the member states shall never again repeat the same mistake of causing health damage, as in the case of the Minamata disease, in which mercury caused serious damage to people's nerves.
日本の水銀使用料は1960年代のピーク時で年2500トンだったが、この数年は年10トン未満。一方、南アメリカやアフリカなどの途上国を中心に世界では2005年に約3800トンが使われた。小規模な金採掘現場では、金を取り出すために水銀が今も使われ、労働者や地域の人たちの健康被害が心配されている。
In Japan, use of mercury reached its peak in the 1960s at 2,500 tons per year, but in recent years, the amount has decreased to under 10 tons per year. On the other hand, approximately 3,800 tons of mercury was used in the rest of the world in 2005, especially in developing countries such as nations in South America and Africa. In small-scale mining sites of gold, mercury is still used for extraction of gold, and there are concerns of health damage to workers and local people.
水俣条約の発効を受け、熊本県水俣市の胎児性水俣病患者、坂本しのぶさん（61）がスイス・ジュネーブで開かれる第1回締約国会議にあわせて現地入りした。
Upon receiving the news of effectuation of the Minamata Convention, Shinobu Sakamoto (61), a sufferer of embryonic Minamata disease who lives in Minamata City, Kumamoto Prefecture, visited Geneva, Switzerland, to attend the first Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention.
国連人間環境会議が開かれたスウェーデン・ストックホルムで水銀被害を訴えてから45年。被害の根絶を改めて世界に訴えた。
It has been 45 years since she made her plea on damage from mercury poisoning at a United Nations conference on the human environment in Stockholm, Switzerland. Once again, she implored the world to eradicate the damage from mercury pollution.
母親のおなかの中で水銀の被害を受けた坂本さんは、1972年にストックホルムを訪問。会話や歩行が不自由な自らの身をさらして被害を伝えた。この会議を機に創設された国連環境計画（UNEP）が水銀規制の議論を進め、前文に「水俣病の教訓」をうたった条約が発効することになった。
Sakamoto, who suffered the damage from mercury while she was still in her mother's womb, visited Stockholm in 1972. She spoke about the damage by displaying to the world how she suffers from being unable to walk and talk freely. The conference led to the establishment of the UN Environment Program, which advanced the discussions on regulating mercury, bringing about the enforcement of a treaty which includes the words, "lessons from the Minamata disease", in its preamble.
水俣病の公式確認から60年が過ぎ、患者は高齢化。坂本さんも体のこわばりなどの症状が悪化し、移動には車いすが欠かせない。締約国会議では、閣僚級会合の前に設けられる「水俣への思いをささげる時間」などでスピーチした。水俣市内で記者会見した坂本さんは「やっぱり、水俣病が終わっとらんことと、水銀のことをいろんな国できちんとしてほしいということを言いたい。私もいつまで話すことができるか、と思ったの。だから、できることをやりたいと思ったの」などと話した。
It has been 60 years since the Japanese government officially acknowledged the Minamoto disease, and now patients are aging. Sakamoto's symptoms, such as the stiffening of her body, have worsened, and she needs a wheelchair to move around. At the Conference of the Parties, she gave speeches, one of them during a time frame that was allotted before the ministerial conference and titled, "A Moment to Minamata". She spoke about how she wants to tell the world that the Minamata disease has not yet ended, and that countries all over the world have to tackle the problem of mercury. She said that she decided to give her speech because she does not know for how long she can keep talking, and because she wanted to do her best while she can.
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