Environmental Engineering Reference
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testing and verbal learning tests. The researchers found mercury-related neuropsychologic-
al decrements in language, attention and memory and in visuospatial and motor functions.
The decrements were mild, but they were there and caused much concern. To put this in-
formation into a circumpolar context, AMAP was able to provide the Arctic Council min-
isters at the Barrow meeting with a much more detailed “map” of mercury levels in Arctic
people and in Arctic marine foods than had earlier been available.
Perhaps emboldened by the way in which the CLRTAP actions on POPs had grown
into a global initiative under UNEP, the Arctic Council Ministerial Conference decided to
pushforglobalaction.TheirBarrowDeclarationrecordsthatthey“[n]otewithconcernthat
releases of mercury have harmful effects on human health and may damage ecosystems of
environmental and economic importance, including in the Arctic, and call on the United
Nations Environment Programme to initiate a global assessment of mercury that could
form the basis for appropriate international action in which the Arctic States would parti-
cipate actively.” The United States brought the issue to the Governing Council of UNEP
and the Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals (IOMC)
was asked to provide a global mercury assessment. This document was made available for
the Governing Council at its twenty-second session in February 2003. Much time was then
spent on considering what type of action could be taken. However, in February 2009, at
the twenty-fifth session of the UNEP Governing Council, in Nairobi, Kenya, 141 countries
agreed to begin negotiations on a legally binding instrument for the global control of mer-
cury pollution.
To make progress on developing a global convention, it is obviously essential that
there is a common understanding on the pressing need for that convention. This is usually
not easy, given our world mosaic of vastly different degrees of economic development,
wealth and political dogma. Success is very unlikely if this aspect is ignored. One of the
key people involved in this supportive work was Gunnar Futsaeter. He moved from the
Norwegian State Pollution Control Agency to UNEP Chemicals in Geneva to work on put-
ting the UNEP Governing Council decisions on mercury into action. Gunnar had for years
been the Norwegian delegate to AMAP and is a passionate advocate for Arctic environ-
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