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Global Mercury Negotiations
New Update: Negotiations Continue in Nairobi, Kenya
Plenary Session of INC-3, November 2011
EPA experts participated in the third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC3) 
which took place in Nairobi, Kenya from October 31-November 4, 2011.
Negotiations proceeded on a wide variety of issues, including air emissions, artisanal and small-scale gold mining, waste, and storage.
The next negotiating session will take place in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in June 2012.
In February 2009, at the 25th Session of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Governing Council, in Nairobi, Kenya, the United States and 140 other countries agreed to begin negotiations on a legally-binding instrument for the global control of mercury pollution. This historic agreement is anticipated to lead to the development of measures to reduce risks from the neurotoxic effects of mercury to United States citizens and to hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
Controlling sources of mercury is especially important for pregnant women, children, and workers throughout the world. (For more information on the global mercury problem and ongoing solutions, explore EPA’s mercury portal, and the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership , in which EPA participates actively.)
Negotiations commenced in 2010 and are taking place through an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) process , which will develop a set of approaches to strengthen global action on mercury. From 2010-2013, a total of five negotiating sessions will take place. Issue areas to be covered include:
Cinnabar (mercury sulfide), the ore from which mercury is mined. Photo: U.S. Department of State.
- reducing mercury emissions to the air
- reducing mercury use in products, industrial processes, and small-scale mining
- mercury supply, storage, and waste management, and
- delivering technical assistance and finance.
The United States has long supported the efforts of UNEP and other partners to address mercury, securing an agreement for UNEP to conduct a Global Mercury Assessment. . This assessment provided clear scientific evidence of mercury’s global reach.
EPA is playing an active role in the negotiating process, as well as in ongoing work under the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership and many of our bilateral programs, in order to work cooperatively to reduce the transboundary threat of mercury pollution.
Delegates assemble at plenary session of first intergovernmental negotiating committee meeting in Stockholm, Sweden on June 10. Photo Credit: Carl Mazza.
Additional Resources
- Explore EPA's leadership and specific activities in the Global Mercury Partnership.
- Interested in becoming a partner? See Information for New Partners at UNEP Global Mercury Partnership.
- Our work on the international stage to control mercury use and emissions is an important complement to our strong domestic actions on mercury.
- UNEP Global Mercury Partnership
- United Nations Environment Program Global Atmospheric Mercury Assessment: Sources, Emissions and Transport (2008)
- Decisions adopted at the 25th Session of the UNEP Governing Council (see Decision 25/5, Chemicals including Mercury)
Contacts
For additional information on EPA's work with mercury, contact:
Marianne Bailey
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of International and Tribal Affairs (2670R)
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20460
E-mail: bailey.marianne@epa.gov
(202) 564-6402