Advertisement

Unep meet agrees on treaty against deadly mercury

Saturday February 28 2009
news sub 1 pix

Gold miners in Bulyahuru area of northwestern Tanzania. Mercury is a major public health threat, which touches everyone in every country of the world. Photo/LEONARD MAGOMBA

For years, the world has remained divided over the need for a treaty to regulate the use and disposal of mercury.

That division ended on February 20, when more than 140 countries meeting in Nairobi agreed to work towards such a treaty in the next four years.

The agreement was reached during the Unep Governing Council and sets the stage for a treaty to reduce the use of mercury in various products and processes as well as the release of emission into the atmosphere.

Lowered levels of use and emissions will ultimately reduce the risks of human exposure.

According to the agreement reached in Nairobi, preparations for negotiations on the mercury treaty will start later in the year, with the receipt by Unep of various proposals.

Substantive negotiations will commence next year, and are expected to end in 2013 with a concrete draft treaty ready for ratification.

Advertisement

Mercury is a heavy metal used in the manufacture of scientific instruments such as thermometers, barometers, dental amalgams and fluorescent lamps.

It has long been recognised as a dangerous pollutant with the ability to travel long distances either in water or living organisms.

Its most toxic form — methylmercury — accumulates in fish and reaches humans when these are consumed as food.

Among the major mercury polluters in the world are coal-powered electricity plants, iron smelters, cement producers and waste disposal systems, including those dealing with medical waste and sewage.

More than 10 million people, including thousands in East Africa, are also thought to be exposed to harmful levels of mercury each year in small-scale mining operations.

The metal’s worst effects occur in unborn and young children, interfering with developmental processes. For the unborn child, this can lead to life-threatening congenital malformations.

“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,” observed Unep executive director Achim Steiner at the Nairobi agreement. “Today we are united on the need for a legally binding instrument and immediate action towards a transition to a low-mercury world.”

Environmentalists attribute the consensus reached at the Unep meeting to the more pragmatic approach on environmental issues adopted by the new administration of President Barack Obama, as opposed to the much more pro-industry stance of his predecessor, George W. Bush.

While the Obama administration supports the creation of a mercury treaty, Bush had consistently opposed its enaction.

Significantly, participants at the Unep meeting also agreed to put in place tentative measures, under a voluntary global partnership, to lower the risks of further environmental pollution pending the enactment of the mercury treaty.

This, they said, was in line with the level of the threat posed by the metal, which had gone unaddressed for far too long.

Among the key areas that will be addressed by the proposed treaty will be the standards for the storage and utilisation of mercury, the need for public education, and the setting up of guidelines in the use of the metal in such areas as mining.

Advertisement