Council of Europe adopts new Convention on environmental crime, including mercury-related offences

The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers on Wednesday 14 May 2025 adopted a new Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law, the first international legally binding instrument to address environmental crime.

Covering a broad range of criminal acts that aggravate the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, the Convention aims to promote and enhance the protection of the environment. Its purpose is to prevent and combat environmental crime, foster national and international cooperation, and establish minimum legal standards to guide States in their national legislations.

Article 16 on offences related to mercury states that “Parties shall take the necessary legislative measures to establish as a criminal offence under their domestic law, when committed unlawfully and intentionally, the manufacture, use, storage, import or export of mercury, mercury compounds and mixtures of mercury and mercury-added products, when such conduct causes or is likely to cause death or serious injury to any person or substantial damage to the quality of air, the quality of soil or the quality of water, or to animals or plants”.

At the end of 2025, the Convention will open for signature by the member States of the Council of Europe, the non-member States that participated in its elaboration, and the European Union. It will enter into force three months after the date on which 10 signatories, including at least 8 Council of Europe member States, have expressed their consent to be bound by the Convention.