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Nations agree first mercury-emissions treaty
Source: Al Jazeera, Date: , 2013
More than 140 nations have adopted the
first legally-binding international treaty aimed at reducing mercury emissions,
UN officials have said.
The UN Environment Programme said the
treaty was adopted after all-night negotiations that capped a week of talks in
Geneva, Switzerland.
A signing ceremony will be held later
this year, and then nations must begin formally ratifying the
treaty before it comes into force several years from now.
"To agree on global targets is not
easy to do," UNEP executive director Achim Steiner said. "There was
no delegation here that wished to leave Geneva without drafting a treaty."
The agreement will for the first
time set enforceable limits on emissions of mercury, a highly toxic metal that
is widely used in chemical production and small-scale mining, and exclude,
phase out or restrict some products that contain mercury.
But some supporters of the treaty
said they were not satisfied with the agreement.
Joe DiGangi, a science adviser with
advocacy group IPEN, which works for the elimination of persistent
organic pollutants, said that while the treaty is "a first step," it
is not tough enough to achieve its aim of reducing overall emissions.
For example, DiGangi said, there
is no requirement that each country create a national plan for how it will
reduce mercury emissions.
The draft agreement that was issued
before the meeting committed countries to phase out mercury thermometers, some
kinds of light bulbs and small "button" batteries, with 2018 the
earliest possible deadline.
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