United Nations Environment Progamme (UNEP) Officer Dr Shunichi Honda expressed all-out support on behalf of his organisation to help Pakistan weed out use of toxic mercury in different items including skin whitening creams, dental filling, batteries, fluorescent lights, felt production, thermometres and barometres, Climate Change Ministry Media Deputy Director Muhammad Salim said on Sunday. “UNEP is committed to working with Pakistan to completely phase out the use of poisonous mercury at all levels by 2021 so as to protect public health and environment from its extremely adverse impacts,” he said during his meeting with Ministry of Climate Change Secretary Khizar Hayat Khan in his office. Muhammad Salim informed that the UNEP official Dr Shunichi Honda also lauded the ministry’s efforts towards gradual elimination of mercury use in collaboration with industrials, hospitals, municipalities, federal health ministry, federal and provincial protection agencies and other relevant government and non-governmental stakeholders. “The UNEP official also said that it is truly heartening for him to note Pakistan taking all-out and vigourous steps in collaboration with relevant government and non-governmental departments, industry and academia to achieve the goal of a mercury-free Pakistan by 2020 and the country is well on track towards the goal,” Salim told media. The ministry’s media focal person said that the climate change secretary told the senior UNEP official that the ministry was just close to completion of the draft final report on initial assessment of mercury in Pakistan and preparation of mercury inventory, reports about causes, sources and impacts of mercury in the country. The climate change ministry secretary told UNEP officials that such activities of climate change ministry are stark signs of the country’s seriousness and unflinching commitment towards completely phasing out mercury use at any level in the country by 2020. Salim told media further that Khizar Hayat Khan also appreciated the financial and technical support of UNEP to Pakistan. The climate change secretary, however, urged Dr Shunichi Honda to further technically and financially help the climate change ministry for achieving the overarching goal of mercury-free Pakistan, ministry media official added. The UNEP official, however, assured the climate change secretary of his fullest technical and financial help and expressed his desire saying, “I wish to see Pakistan emerge as a leader of the regional countries, working on phasing out mercury use at all levels and I would leave no stone unturned to help Pakistan on this count.” He told media that the climate change ministry in collaboration with UNEP is implementing a national project titled Development of Miniamata Initial Assessment in Pakistan which aims to strengthen the baselines on mercury management in the country, developing national mercury inventories, piloting of sectoral action-plans as a follow-up of prioritisation including indicative sampling and hammering out national mercury management plans, assess the causes, sources and impacts of mercury and prepare the pave for Pakistan to permanently eliminate use of mercury at all level, particularly industrial and health sectors. Published in Daily Times, September 10th 2018.