Overview
- The General Assembly adopted the Togo‑led resolution on Sept. 4, 2026 by 164 votes to 1 with six abstentions, urging use of projections that show true land area rather than the Mercator standard.
- The measure endorses area‑preserving projections such as Equal Earth while explicitly not banning Mercator for navigation or specialized uses.
- Supporters led by Togo and the African Union argue Mercator inflates high‑latitude regions and shrinks equatorial ones, noting Greenland looks similar in Mercator maps while Africa is about 14 times larger in reality.
- The vote is symbolic but immediate follow‑ups include France saying it will abandon Mercator for general representations and Togo planning to update school geography materials by the end of the year.
- The change builds on the Correct the Map campaign and the Equal Earth projection created in 2018 and could drive updates in textbooks, U.N. and UNESCO publications, and digital mapping services that shape public perception.