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Declaration on the Construction of a Model Environmental City

The history and climate of Minamata City raise questions about what human beings should do to conform and coexist with nature. From time immemorial, people have lived near fields and mountains, always in places near water sources such as rivers and the sea, which have provided them with ample natural resources.

However, the outbreak of Minamata disease, the product of one of the worldfs largest and worst cases of industrial pollution resulting from a productivity-first principle, has severely affected human health and the environment in the vicinity of Minamata City. This highlights the dangers of industrial development. It has caused death not only to local people, but also to many other living things; brought about psychological anguish; and endangered the very existence of local communities. In fact, Minamatafs citizens have continued to suffer for thirty-six years.

Learning from this tragic experience, we in the City of Minamata are determined to construct a Model Environmental City, which will respect ecosystems. We are also determined to spread the lessons we have learned from Minamata Disease all over the world.

With the firm resolution tha we wioll never allow any tragedy like the Minamata incident to occur again, we have decided to carry aout the following activities and to sharea the results with people in Japan and all over the world.

  1. Passing the lessons learned from Minamata Disease down to the next generation.
  2. Promoting relief measures for Minamata Disease victims and reconciliation among the victims and local residents.
  3. Encouraging changes to industrial activities to protect people and all other living things in cyclic ecosystems.
  4. Protecting fundamental elements of life as the sea, rivers, and mountains, and handing them down in good condition to the next generation.
  5. reviewing the structure of present-day civilization and proposing new social systems based on the frugal use of our limited natural resources.

We hereby declare that in view of the "Environmental Creation in Minamata 1992" events taking place in Minamata, we in the City of Minamata reaffirm our resolution to implement the undertakings we have stated above.

Toshihisa Okada
Mayor of Minamata
November 14, 1992