Mercury, a dangerous heavy metal, has not been allowed to be traded in the EU, and recently the UN has called on a global ban on mercury. This near-global effort to limit mercury use has now hit India, as the country is feeling more pressure to at least regulate their mercury trade. India is currently the world’s largest consumer of the metal which means that if more change is to happen, India needs to be part of it.

Earlier this year, Toxics Link joined a large number of non-governmental organisations to call upon Governments across the globe to place a ban on mercury exports in a bid to check increasing mercury pollution at the 24th United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Governing Council meeting held from 5th to 9th February 2007.