United Nations Environment Programme Governing Council

"Mercury poses a serious health risk, especially to pregnant women and children. Working together with our neighbors around the globe, we forged an agreement, which creates "Partnerships for the Reduction of Mercury", adopted today by the United Nations Environment Programme Governing Council. This is a major step forward in the effort to reduce releases of mercury and improve human health around the globe.

"Our partnerships will leverage resources, as well as provide technical expertise, technology transfer, and information exchanges to provide immediate effective action to reduce mercury use and emissions.

"It accelerates the good work of the UNEP Mercury Program, originally proposed by the U.S. at the 2003 UNEP Governing Council. This program has been pivotal in raising awareness about the environmental and health issues associated with mercury releases and uses and has initiated activities designed to build a strong foundation for mercury reduction efforts worldwide.

"The United States has been a leader among countries in the world in taking actions to address our domestic mercury emissions. In 1990, the U.S. took steps to reduce emissions of mercury from incineration. This prompted a 45% reduction in mercury emissions (from 220 tons to about 115 tons).

"Now the U.S. is the first country in the world with plans to regulate mercury emissions from power plants. The EPA will finalize next month the first ever rule to reduce mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, by requiring a 70% cut in mercury emissions from these plants.

"We look forward to working together with other governments, non-governmental organizations and industry to share resources, expertise and time with countries seeking to reduce risks associated with mercury emissions."