This brochure, launched on the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of the Montreal Protocol covers examples of UNDP’s work in protecting the global ozone layer, advancing sustainable cooling solutions for and tackling climate change, and highlighting linkages to the Sustainable Development Goals. Through the joint efforts of our project counterparts in recipient countries, as well as close coordination with MLF and GEF Secretariats, UNDP’s cumulative portfolio of 2,496 projects and sector programmes in 120 countries amounting to $829.6 million has already eliminated 70,321 ODP tonnes per annum, generated cumulative climate benefits of 6.48 billion tonnes of CO2 eq. emissions, and catalyzed innovative solutions for environment-friendly alternatives as this report shows.

This brochure summarizes the interim results of UNDP’s work in protecting human health and the environment from mercury in support of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, illustrates linkages with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and charts the way forward. UNDP currently supports 42 countries with a GEF mercury portfolio of $22 million in grants and $32 million in co-financing.

The Minamata Convention on Mercury is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury. Mercury is a chemical of global concern owing to its long-range atmospheric transport, its persistence in the environment once anthropogenically introduced, its ability to bioaccumulate in ecosystems and its significant negative effects on human health and the environment.

This guidance document describes important linkages between development, gender, and chemicals management. While policymakers are beginning to understand the important role played by the sound management of chemicals in economic and social development, it is also important to recognize the significant linkages between gender and chemicals.