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Public Statements & Op-Eds Canada and the UN on Breakthrough Agreement on Mercury Letter to the Editor, from Nairobi, run in the Ottawa Citizen on Friday, February 20th 2009 Dear Sir, Defying expectations, world environmental ministers and leaders agreed today to begin negotiating a treaty to control global mercury pollution. The decision represents the consensus of the more than 140 countries gathered for the 25th United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Governing Council meeting in Nairobi, Kenya. This consensus is a huge breakthrough. The treaty will ensure that all countries make a serious commitment to reduce global mercury emissions, supply and demand, which have a serious and long lasting effect in the environment. It is a critical first step towards solving a serious global pollutant, including actions to reduce mercury supply, its use in products and processes, and atmospheric mercury emissions. Ultimately it will reduce human exposure to mercury globally. While the agreement was made possible by a dramatic shift in the US position by the new Obama administration in favour of an agreement, we were most heartened by the Government of Canada's statement, early in the debate, expressing clear support for a legally binding agreement. The Canadian position focused especially on the heightened risk that mercury has posed to vulnerable indigenous populations in our North. Mercury is a dangerous neurotoxin that makes its way up the food chain into humans, putting pregnant women and young children at particular risk through its effect on neural development. With this participation through UNEP - and the Obama visit in Ottawa yesterday - we are seeing our Government acting on the world stage as Canadians hope and expect.
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