Delegates
at UN talks approve measures to curb pollution, but some campaigners say they
are not tough enough
guardian.co.uk,
Staff and agencies, Saturday 19 January 2013
Proponents of the treaty say it will set meaningful controls and reductions
on products, such as thermometers, that use mercury. Photograph: Carol
and Mike Werner
|
More than
140 nations have agreed on the first legally-binding treaty to curb mercury
pollution.
Delegates
at UN talks in Geneva approved measures to control the use of the highly toxic
metal, which is widely used in chemical production and small-scale mining, in
order to limit mercury emissions.
The
executive director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Achim Steiner, said:
"To agree on global targets is not easy to do. There was no delegation
here that wished to leave Geneva without drafting a treaty."
"We
have closed a chapter on a journey that has taken four years of often intense,
but ultimately successful negotiations and opened a new chapter towards a
sustainable future," said Fernando Lugris, the Uruguayan diplomat who
chaired the negotiations.
A signing
ceremony will be held later this year in Japan, and then 50 nations must ratify
it before it comes into force, which UN officials said they would expect to
happen within about three to four years.
But some
supporters of a new mercury treaty said they were not satisfied with the
agreement.
Joe
DiGangi, a science adviser with advocacy group IPEN, said that while the treaty
was "a first step," it was not tough enough to achieve its aim of
reducing overall emissions.
He noted
there was no requirement that each country create a national plan for how it
will reduce mercury emissions.
But
proponents of the treaty say it will set meaningful controls and reductions on
a range of products, processes and industries where mercury is used, released
or emitted.
These would
include medical equipment such as thermometers, energy-saving light bulbs,
mining and cement and coal-fired power industries.
Swiss
environmental ambassador Franz Perrez said the treaty would "help us to
protect human health and the environment all over the world".
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