Historic treaty to tackle toxic heavy metal mercury gets green light

Source: United Nations Environmental Programme

A major decision to crackdown on mercury pollution globally was reached at the close of the United Nations Environmental Programmes’s Governing Council in Nairobi, Kenya last week.

The benchmark decision to eliminate the toxic pollutant will be put into place across 140 countries and will assist in improving the health of millions of people worldwide affected by its emissions.
 Governments unanimously decided to launch negotiations on an international mercury treaty to deal with world - wide emissions and discharges of a pollutant that threatens the health of millions, from fetuses and babies to small - scale gold miners and their families.

They also agreed that the risk to human health and the environment was so significant that accelerated action under a voluntary Global Mercury Partnership is needed whilst the treaty is being finalized.
The eight - point partnership plan includes:
- Boosting the world - wide capability for nations to safely store stockpiled mercury
- Reducing the supply of mercury from for example primary mining of the heavy metal
- Carrying out awareness raising of the risks alongside projects to cut the use of mercury in artisanal mining where an estimated 10 million miners and their families are exposed
- Reducing mercury in products such as thermometers and high - intensity discharge lamps to processes such as some kinds of paper - making and plastics production

Achim Steiner, UN Under - Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said: "UNEP has, for some seven years, coordinated and contributed to an intense scientific and policy debate on how best to deal with the issue of mercury. Today the world's environment ministers, armed with the full facts and full choices, decided the time for talking was over - the time for action on this pollution is now".

"Only a few weeks ago nations remained divided on how to deal with this major public health threat which touches everyone in every country of the world. Today we are united on the need for a legally binding instrument and immediate action towards a transition to a low-mercury world," he said.

"I believe this will be a major, confidence - building boost for not only the chemicals and health agenda but right across the environmental challenges of our time from biodiversity loss to climate change," said Mr Steiner.

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