Multiple global environmental agreements cover different steps in the life cycle of hazardous substances from their production to final disposal. Yet, chemicals, including many pesticides, continue to cause much harm to human health and the environment. One of the global chemicals treaties — the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous […]
The 50th anniversary of the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment provides an opportunity to reflect on mercury pollution as a sustainability issue past, present and future. The first global mercury assessment, completed in 2002, identified mercury as a global pollutant. Voluntary partnerships aiming to reduce mercury use and pollution under the United […]
Private governance—the enactment of state-like governance functions by non-state actors—has come to challenge the role of the state in an increasingly complex global governance landscape. The rise of private standards has fueled debates over the role and effectiveness of private authority compared to public regulation. This debate relates to sustainability transitions, as the United Nations […]
Throughout history, the chemical element mercury has had a variety of applications spanning medicine, manufacturing and more. While mercury has played a role in a number of scientific advances, exposure to mercury can also cause serious health complications that have led to a steady reduction in its use in consumer products. The element is also […]
By Henrik Selin and Rebecca Dunn If international shipping were a country, it would be the world’s seventh largest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions annually. Despite this, CO2 emissions from international shipping are not currently covered by international treaties or domestic policies. This means that these CO2 emissions are largely left outside collective efforts […]
International ships carry roughly 90 percent of global trade by volume and produce more CO2 emissions annually than Saudi Arabia, at two percent of of global emissions. Despite this, neither international treaties nor domestic policies control CO2 emissions from international maritime shipping. The industry also does not lend itself to easy governance, as it is […]
By Maureen Heydt On Tuesday, Nov. 10, the Global Development Policy Center (GDP Center) hosted a webinar to launch the new book from Henrik Selin, “Mercury Stories: Understanding Sustainability through a Volatile Element,” co-authored with Noelle Eckley Selin. The book is an interdisciplinary analysis of human interactions with mercury through history that sheds light on […]
Mercury is a global pollutant released into the biosphere by varied human activities including coal combustion, mining, artisanal gold mining, cement production and chemical production. Once released to air, land and water, the addition of carbon atoms to mercury by bacteria results in the production of methylmercury, the toxic form that bioaccumulates in aquatic and […]