The UNEP Governing Council continued to discuss the need for further measures to address the global adverse impacts of mercury on health and the environment at its 23rd session 21 - 25 February 2005.  Information on preparations for these discussions and the meeting documents relevant to chemicals management are available on the UNEP website.  

With regard to mercury, the decision strengthed the UNEP mercury programme, requested UNEP to develop a report on the supply, trade and demand for mercury on the global market for consideration at the 24th session of the Governing Council and called for partnerships between Governments and other stakeholders as one approach to reducing risks to human health and the environment from the release of mercury and its compounds to the environment. The decision encouraged Governments, the private sector and international organizations to take immediate actions to reduce the risks to human health and the environment posed on a global scale by mercury in products and production processes. Governments were invited to identify priority partnerships areas as soon as possible, with the goal of identifying a set of pilot partnerships by 1 September 2005. The UNEP Executive Director were also  requested to assist in the mobilization of resources in support of partnerships.

The full text of the decision 23/9, as adopted by the Governing Council on 25 February 2004, is available here in English (Word or PDF), French (Word or PDF) and Spanish (Word or PDF).

The Proceedings of the twenty-third session of the Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum are available in languages as follows: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish.

For more information, please also check the webpage for the 23rd Session of the Governing Council/ Global Ministerial Environmental Forum and the final press release for the meeting.