“IPPIC notes the long-standing effectiveness of lead-use restrictions that are already in place in many jurisdictions around the world and recommends their widespread adoption by authorities not currently regulating the use of lead in paint and printing ink. To this end, IPPIC supports the UN’s Lead Paint Alliance “Model Law”, as a useful starting point for both government and industry to collaborate on developing restrictions that ensure widespread and verifiable compliance.”

The Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint (Lead Paint Alliance or the Alliance) is co-led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Information about the Alliance can be found on its official webpage. The working arrangements for the Lead Paint Alliance are described in its Operational Framework. The work of the Lead Paint Alliance is promoted by partners1 to the Alliance. Partners are stakeholders such as governments, non-governmental civil society organizations, paint producers and paint industry trade associations, academic experts and other UN organizations that have applied to UN Environment and WHO and have been accepted as partners by both Organizations according to an agreed procedure. Approved partners are listed on the Alliance website on the Partners page. An Advisory Council2 oversees the work of the Alliance and members are drawn from Alliance partners. The Advisory Council is chaired by a government partner., and members reflect the diverse types of stakeholders.

Emissions of mercury (Hg) from thermal power stations are a subject of increasing concern because of their toxicity, volatility, persistence, and longrange transport in the atmosphere. Hg has the tendency for bioaccumulation as methyl Hg and thus enters the food chain. Once released into the environment, Hg contaminates soil, air, surface and ground water. Hg is a neurotoxin and causes adverse health effects. Hg is a global pollutant that is emitted, deposited, and reemitted on both a local and global scale in both terrestrial and marine environments. Toxic Hg emitted from coal-fired power plants originates from the Hg present in coal. Burning of large quantity of coal for power generation makes it the second largest anthropogenic source of Hg emissions at a global level. The Pollution Control Department (PCD) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have entered into a Small-Scale Funding Agreement to undertake a project titled “Reducing Mercury Emissions from Coal Combustion in the Energy Sector in Vietnam”. In accordance with UN Environment Governing Council priorities, identified in Decisions 24/3 and 25/5, and with the goal of reducing Hg emissions from the coal partnership area under the UN Environment Global Mercury Partnership, the project aims to present national information on: coal types and coal usage; characterize coal-fired power sector in Vietnam; develop an emission inventory for the coal fired energy sector; and present other relevant information to improve accuracy of future emission inventories for the sector.