The overall goal of the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership is to protect human health and the global environment from the release of mercury and its compounds by minimizing and, where feasible, ultimately eliminating global, anthropogenic mercury releases to air, water, and land.

The UNEP Global Mercury Partnership is a voluntary and collaborative relationship amongst various parties, governmental, non-governmental, public and private, in which all participants agree to work together in a systematic way to achieve the goal of the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership.

The UNEP Global Mercury Partnership complements and supports the implementation of UNEP Governing Council Decision 24/3.

As of June 2008, the following partnership areas have been initiated:

• artisanal and small scale gold mining;
• mercury cell chlor alkali production;
• mercury air transport and fate research;
• mercury in products;
• mercury releases from coal combustion; and
• mercury waste management.

Other partnership areas are in the process of being considered and initiated.

The goal of the Mercury-Containing Products Partnership Area (Partnership Area) is to phase out and eventually eliminate mercury in products and to eliminate releases during manufacturing and other industrial processes via environmentally sound production, transportation, storage, and disposal procedures. Key product areas identified under this partnership area include: batteries, dental amalgams, measuring and control (largely medical sector), electric and electronic switches, flourescent lamps, cosmetics.

For more information on the Mercury-Containing Products Partnership Area, please click here.