The UNEP F&T contribution to the Minamata Convention process: possible synergies between science and policy.

The UNEP Mercury Air Transport and Fate Research Partnership Area (UNEP F&T) started its activity in 2006, lead by the Italian National Research Council - Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research (CNR-IIA), and since then have contributed to the UNEP Mercury Programme and established a close cooperation with other international Programs (i.e., GEO Task HE-02, the Group on Earth Observations) and Conventions (i.e., the UNECE-Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution) on mercury pollution issues. The UNEP F&T aims to improve the global understanding of international mercury emission sources, fate and transport and to encourage collaborative research activities on different aspects of atmospheric mercury cycling at local, hemispheric and global scales.