The Mercury Air Transport & Fate Research partnership group works toward improving global understanding of mercury and for predicting trends. F&T’s members have contributed to the preparation of the Global Mercury Assessment (GMA) for the Ad-Hoc Working Groups, the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee meetings, and later for the meetings of the Conference of Parties (COP).

To download the Partnership Area Fact Sheet, click here.

Building a Mercury Monitoring Partnership
UNEP’s Governing Board of the Specific International Programme (SIP) have approved two projects for facilitating capacity-building with technical assistance and technology transfer for managing mercury in the following regions:

• The Caribbean Region – BRI’s extensive mercury work in the Caribbean Region has led the way for the first network of integrated laboratories to be established. The primary toxicology laboratory is be located in Antigua and Barbuda.
• Gabon, Africa – BRI has partnered with the government of Gabon for this initiative, which is in its early stage of development.

ICMGP 2022 – Mercury Synthesis Workshop: Integrating Research and Policy, Wednesday, August 31st, 2022
The Synthesis Workshop provided a forum for sharing and enhancing communication among a diverse group of researchers, managers, and policymakers to discuss recently completed synthesis papers on current important topics in mercury science. The workshop featured speakers from the Minamata Secretariat and the Global Mercury Partnerships along with science policy experts working on other environmental conventions. The Workshop was held virtually on two different days to accommodate the different global time zones – August 31st (for North America, Europe, and Africa) and September 1st or 2nd (Asia and Australia).
Meeting Agenda
Video Recording – August 31st, 2022
Video Recording – September 1st, 2022

Guidance on Mercury Monitoring Document
Over the past 18 months, members of the Transport and Fate Partnership and other scientists have generated a guidance document for monitoring mercury to support the implementation of the requirements stated in Article 22 (Effectiveness Evaluation) of the Minamata Convention. The draft is ready for the COP-4 virtual meeting in November.

To meet its objectives, the Partnership Area puts priority on the following actions:

• Accelerating the development of sound scientific information in global mercury cycling and its patterns
• Enhancing compilation and sharing of such information among various stakeholders
• Providing technical assistance and training
• Enhancing the development of a globally-coordinated mercury observation system including air and water ecosystems
• Enhancing the exchange of information and cooperation with relevant international organizations, groups and programmes

Members of the Mercury Air Transport & Fate Research partnership group can find more information on the Minamata Convention website.

The UNEP website hosts a wide variety of resources. We will list here those specifically relevant to our members.

Global Mercury Assessment 2018 – Key Findings

Are mercury emissions from satellite electric propulsion an environmental concern?
Dan Fourie et al. 2019 Environ. Res. Lett. 14 124021