Danger doesn't always look dangerous

Danger doesn't always look dangerous. Sometimes it is hiding in fish, in face cream, even in the air. Mercury. For thousands of years, humans have put mercury to work. Ancient alchemy, rituals, gold mining, batteries. It travels through the air and water. It lingers. it turns into methylmercury, slips into the food chain and into us. But this is not a horror story. This is a comeback story. In 2002, UNEP's Global Mercury Assessment showed the scale of the problem and mobilized civil society. That led to the Global Mercury Partnership. And, in 2013, the Minamata Convention. Now, 152 nations strong. Almost 300 partners and networks are taking action. And the new Global Framework on Chemicals keeps up the pressure. The spark? UNEP's Environment Fund. Core funding from Member states, which gave UNEP the resources to spotlight the danger, help governments act and build vital partnerships like [with] the Global Environment facility, which now funds much of today's work to end man-made mercury pollution. Because UNEP, its partners and the Environment Fund, and invisible danger is being tackled in visible ways, protecting our lands, waters and the air we breathe from the dangers of mercury.