In 2002, UNEP Global Mercury Assessment showed the scale of the problem and led, three years later, to the creation of the Global Mercury Partnership.
Since its beginning, the Partnership has been instrumental in advancing scientific knowledge, facilitating collaboration, and supporting both the negotiation and implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
UNEP Global Mercury Partnership Mandates
Governments initiated partnership activities in 2005 at the twenty-third session of the UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum (Decision 23/9) and subsequently (Decision 24/3) strengthened the role of partnerships to effectively manage mercury activities. At its twenty-fifth session in 2009, the Governing Council (Decision 25/5) specified the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership as one of the main mechanisms for the delivery of immediate actions on mercury during the negotiation of the global mercury convention.
Successively, in 2011, the Governing Council (Decision 26/3) reinforced the role of the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership to strengthen the capacities of developing countries and countries with economies in transition to initiate or further develop their national inventories of mercury. In 2013, it (Decision 27/12) urged all partners to continue their efforts and Governments and other stakeholders to continue to support, participate in, and contribute to the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership.
The Minamata Convention on Mercury entered into force on 16 August 2017.
As of today, the Partnership, with over 300 partners, carries on supporting effective implementation of the Convention in line with the Global Framework on Chemicals.
