NEWS
|
Previous Article | Next Article
India gets flexible options to regulate mercury emissions
Coal-powered
India, along with other countries, has successfully dodged its obligations to
swiftly overhaul and regulate mercury emissions in the final draft of a United
Nations treaty signed in Geneva earlier this month. Instead
of using greenest techniques at major mercury-emitting facilities, the
countries have four other flexible options. India has 105 free-flowing,
coal-fed power plants and production plants that emit mercury. According
to the UN, now the choices range from setting a quantified goal for controlling
emissions wherever feasible to adopting alternative measures that has yet to be
discovered. The
countries have 10 years after the treaty is ratified to implement whichever
option they decide. The final draft of the global mercury-regulating contract
was signed by 140 countries after four years of negotiations fostered by the
United Nations Environment Programme. "We negotiated for control. On
paper, we can't be so harsh," said Chief Engineer Alok Saxena of the
Central Electricity Authority who attended the fifth and final negotiation. India
is considered the world's second most mercury emitting country, next only to
China because coal combustion supplies a majority of the grid and also releases
mercury into the air. When the metal gets into the atmosphere, it is absorbed
by water, plants and animals, exposing humans to potential nerve and brain
damage as well as heart disease and other complications because of which the
UNEP has targeted this element. China,
Indonesia and Chile, Saxena said, were among other countries that also pushed
for broader emissions terms. The final draft will also dictate the supply and
demand of mercury worldwide; its usage in lights and medical equipment, also
monitoring mining and how it's discarded. Zero
Mercury Working Group, a coalition of 95 NGOs around the world, praised the
signing of the treaty, but slammed its weakened emission standards. "Adoption
of a global legal agreement on mercury is a major accomplishment," said
Michael T. Bender, co-coordinator of the group in a press release. "Yet
the instrument is hampered by weak controls on mercury emissions." But
Saxena said that he was optimistic about India moving forward. "Give us 10
years," he said. "We will prove that we are very serious." In
October the UNEP will have a diplomatic conference in Japan, where the treaty
is expected to be adopted but the text cannot be changed. At least 50 countries
that have
signed on to the treaty will then have to ratify their commitment before it
becomes effective.
Previous Article | Next Article
|
|