Measuring global progress towards a transition away from mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining

A sustainable global program to reduce mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) will require the demonstration of credible, continuous progress to secure political support and financing, and ultimately achieve success. Focused progress measurement has been lacking to date for ASGM at the global level. This research analyses information on appropriate options to measure mercury reduction progress in ASGM. Research methods included a case study of Mongolia, supplemented with information analyzed from semi-structured interviews related to ASGM and other applicable evaluation approaches. The study concludes by proposing the development of a framework approach for measuring progress and by offering guiding principles and recommendations. Recommendations for the framework approach include: on-going and enhanced support to an information database; simplified evaluation metrics for the ASGM Partnership; tracking the level of political commitment of national governments as an indicator of progress; and promoting common reporting metrics across global programming.