One year on, UN expert urges ratification of treaty to phase out mercury use

The new United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights and toxic waste, Baskut Tuncak, urged governments around the world today to expedite the ratification process of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of the toxic heavy metal.
The Convention, hosted by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), must be ratified by 50 countries to be legally binding. While 128 countries have signed the agreement one year after it was opened for signature and ratification, only seven have ratified it, jeopardizing its chances of being in force by the agreed-upon target of 2020, the expert noted in a press release.
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