Development of Minamata Initial Assessment in the Philippines

This project is aimed at building capacity in Cambodia, Pakistan, and the Philippines, to reduce exposure of mercury to human health and the environment by identifying the main sources and promoting integrated management. The purpose of this project is to strengthen institutions and improve national capacities to legislate mercury with a life cycle approach, while taking into consideration national priorities identified for this issue. Specific areas of work that will be targeted through this project include a review of existing national emissions inventory on mercury, followed by an update of these inventories applying UNEP´s Toolkit level II for mercury emissions inventory development. The outcomes of this activity will provide countries with important data to identify main sources of mercury, and establish goals and objectives in mercury management to address the identified sources, having reviewed their national data of mercury measurements (especially for emissions) and identified gaps in national measurement programmes. This will also help in developing strategies for risk communication, awareness and outreach to keep civil society informed.