The first legally binding pact to curb mercury pollution, approved over the weekend by over 140 nations, will rewrite the rules on how the mercury can be used around the world. However it is not clear how the treaty will impact small-scale gold miners in the developing world, who suffer the worse health consequences from the toxic element exposure.
"The scientific evidence is so incontestable … and the health impacts are so debilitating," Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN Environment Programme (Unep) told The Guardian.
"We want to find a way in which mercury can be taken out of the small-scale gold mining sector. Unbeknown to many of the people who are engaged in this gold mining, it is a very harmful compound, " he added.
No comments:
Post a Comment