CCC208 ISBN 978-92-9029-528-0

October 2012

This work has been funded by the US Department of State through

their grant to ARCADIS, number S-LMAQM-11-GR-1009

Abstract

Mercury is an element of growing global concern. The United Nations Environment Programme plans

to finalise a new global legally binding instrument on mercury by 2013, to coordinate actions to

reduce emissions of mercury.

It has been well established that Asia represents not only the region contributing to greatest current

mercury emissions but also the region with the fastest growth rate. Despite this, emissions from

human activities in most countries in this region are not well characterised.

This report summarises the limited data available on mercury emissions from India, Cambodia,

Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. These countries were specifically

selected as they are areas of potentially significant growth in energy use in the near future.

Information is given on the major sources of mercury in these countries, concentrating mostly on coal

combustion and the non-ferrous metal industry. Although it is beyond the scope of this report to make

new estimates for emissions, information is provided on current fossil fuel use and industrial activity

as well as projections for these sectors to 2020 to give an indication of the general scale of these

sources and the potential for increased emissions in the future.

Some countries have established regulations or action plans on emissions and these are summarised

where possible. Recommendations are then made for potential actions which could be taken in each

country to encourage action and achieve economic reduction in mercury emissions.