Ms. Adelaida B. Roman Head, Network Support Component Air and Atmospheric Pollution RRCAP, Thailand

38th Session of the Steering Body to EMEP 15-17 September 2014, Geneva, Switzerland

INTRODUCTION ON REGIONAL RESOURCE CENTRE FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC(RRCAP)

Global Resource Information Database (GRID)-Bangkok-

1989-1993 ● MoU between AIT and UNEP

● To develop and disseminate

environmental and statistical

datasets.

UNEP Environmental

Assessment Programme,

EAP.AP, 1993-1999 ● Upgraded to an out-posted office for

UNEP Division of Assessment

● Focusing on capacity building of the

national governments in the Asia-

Pacific

UNEP RRC.AP

1999-2011, and RRCAP : 2012-

present ● Upgraded in response to the

growing demands and expansion of activities, air pollution, etc.

MENU OF SERVICES

Advancement of

Science Provide support and

assistance to the

advancement of air

pollution science:

atmospheric monitoring,

emission inventory, etc.

Support Policy

Formulation and

Management

e.g. Development of

international agreements

and charters

Enhancement of

Capacity e.g. Established

atmospheric monitoring

stations in Asia equipped

with state-of-the–art

instrumentation

Building of

Knowledge Base

e.g. published a number

of scientific reports, impact

assessment studies, and

papers in International

scientific journals

Partnerships and

Secretariat’s

Function e.g. Secretariat of major

regional air pollution

initiatives in the Asian

region, EANET,

Male’Declaration, ABC

ACID DEPOSITION MONITORING NETWORK IN EAST ASIA (EANET)

Background

EANET launched its initiative in April 1998 with designated UNEP

as Secretariat housed at RRC.AP in 2000. The Instrument was

signed by the 12 of 13 member countries in East Asia in 2010.

Roles of RRC.AP ● Secretariat for EANET since 2000

● Manage the work program of around USD 480,000 a year

● Jointl network cooperation among other regional Secretariat

/Initiatives/Institutes

● Highly efficient in mobilizing funds and technical support to

developing countries in this region

Participating countries of EANET Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam

ACID DEPOSITION MONITORING NETWORK IN EAST ASIA (EANET)

Objectives ● To create understanding

of acid deposition status

and problems in East Asia

● To provide useful inputs

for decision making

● To cooperate on the

issues related to acid

deposition among the

participating countries

Major Activities ● Acid deposition monitoring

network and quality

assurance /control data

promotion

● Technical support and

capacity building

● Research and studies

● Public awareness

● Other regional and global

networks cooperation

Major Outputs ● Strong intergovernmental

network

● High quality monitoring datasets

● Periodic report on the state of

acid deposition in East Asia

(PRSAD) and report for policy

makers (RPM)

● Capacity building through annual

trainings, technical transfer,

workshop and meeting

● Research fellowship report and

science bulletin

● Public awareness workshop

annually and publications i.e.

newsletter, factsheets

6 6

Monitoring activities

Previous meetings EMEP (DR. Torseth)was invited at SAC14 held in Incheon , Republic of Korea on 2-4 September and made the presentation on the EMEP activities (through skype) UNECE, CLRTAP is participating in EANET IG meetings, since its inception and the collaboration and presentations of the CLRTAP Secretariat is so significant in EANET implementation of activities.

Future works on EANET and collaboration

-Expansion of the scope of EANET is under discussion in IG 16 on 25-26 November 2014 in Jakarta, Indonesia - The UNECE is invited to participate and share the updated information on the activities of the

convention

- -The next medium term plan (2016-2020) will be adopted at IG17 next year.

Bhutan

Nepal

Bangladesh

Sri Lanka

Iran

Pakistan

India

Maldives

In 1998, UNEP together with the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) drew attention to the possibility of the impacts of transboundary air pollution in South Asia. This initiative led to the adoption of the Malé Declaration). The Malé Declaration’s objective is to aid the process of providing a clean environment through clean air. The Declaration calls for regional cooperation to address the increasing threat of transboundary air pollution and its possible impacts. Its implementation has been carried out in phases.

Implementation in Phases: • Phase 1: Awareness and baseline studies (1999-2001) • Phase 2: Local capacity building for monitoring and analysis (2001-2004) • Phase 3: Capacity building on monitoring and impact assessment (2005-2008) • Phase 4: Enhancement of regional cooperation (2009-2012) • Phase 5: Continuous implementation (2014-2016) including Short-lived Climate Pollutants

Participating countries

Malé Declaration on Control and Prevention of Air Pollution and its Likely Transboundary Effects for South Asia (Malé Declaration),

1. Strengthen the regional cooperation 2. Strengthen the monitoring (SO2, NO2, O3, PM2.5,PM10 and TSP) and

capacity building programmes 3. Enhance the capacity on emission inventory and Integrated Assessment Modeling 4. Enhance the analytical and impact assessment capability at the

national level through integration of findings from local pollution studies and conducting assessment studies, (e.g. crop impact assessment. health impact assessment studies)

5. Provide decision support information for policy formulation and air pollution prevention; and 6. Awareness raised on transboundary air pollution in South Asia region.

Malé Declaration OUTCOMES

Mung Bean Plant

protected for ozone

Mung Bean Plant

without ozone

protection

“Assessing the Impact of Ambient Ozone on Growth and Yields of Mungbean

Participants of IG13

Monitoring stations of MD

Decision of IG14 in May 2013 • Endorsed the “Guidelines for the next steps of implementation

on strengthening the framework on air pollution reduction in South Asia

• Endorsed the guidelines for the operation of the 8 regional centres”. The basic function of the regional centre is to exchange knowledge and to support the research and development on air pollution issues in the region on the proposed theme namely: 1) dry and wet deposition monitoring; 2) soil monitoring; 3) vegetation monitoring; 4) corrosion impact assessment; 5) health impact assessment; 6) emission inventory compilation;7) atmospheric transport modeling; and 8) pollution reduction policies/strategies

• Approved the Plan for Phase V (2014-2016) .

Phase V (2014-2016) aims to promote policy measures to control emissions of air pollution including short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) in South Asia and to ensure the sustainability and ownership of the Malé Declaration in the region. This would be done through the intergovernmental meetings, stakeholders networks, intergovernmental task forces, and Regional Technical Centres for Wet and Dry Deposition Monitoring, Crops and Vegetation Monitoring, Soil Monitoring, Corrosion Impact Assessment, Health Impact Assessment, Emission Inventories, Modelling Atmospheric Transport of Air Pollution, and Pollution Reduction Policies/Strategies.

Upcoming Events on Malé Declaration • 10th Regional Refresher Training Workshop of Malé Declaration To be held in New Delhi, India on 11-13 November 2014 • Fourteenth Session of the Intergovernmental Meeting (IG14), back

to back with the Fourth Meeting of the Task Force on Future Development of MD (TFFD4), to be held in December 2014.

• UNECE is kindly invited , as well as experts in Europe in those events to share experiences in this region.

Atmospheric Brown Clouds (ABC)

ABCs are widespread layers of air pollutants, consisting of mainly aerosol particles (such as black carbon), and precursor gases (CH4, CO, NMVOCs, NOx) which produce aerosols and ozone in the atmosphere. ABCs significantly impacts regional climate, water resource, glaciers, agriculture, and human health.

Satellite view of Layers of ABCs

UNEP commissioned the ABC Programme in 2002: •To further investigate the impacts of ABCs on climate, precipitation, agriculture, and health. •To equip the policy makers with science-based information instigating for reduction of emissions of ABCs. Objectives : •Observations: Establishment of a network of observatories in Asia-Pacific region for data collection and form a network of scientists. •Impact assessment: Assessment of the impacts of ABCs on climate, agriculture, water resources, and health using the observational data and modeling simulations. •Awareness and mitigation: Demonstration of mitigations options and providing science-based information to policy makers for the reduction of emissions of ABCs.

1. Observatory Network Network of 13 Observatories • Maldives Climate Observatory- Hanimaadhoo (MCO-H) • Maldives Climate Observatory- Gan (MCO-G) • Indian Climate Observatory - Pune (ICO-P) • Indian Climate Observatory - Kharagpur (ICO-K) • Nepal Climate Observatory - Godavari (NCO-G) • Nepal Climate Observatory - Pyramid (NCO-P) • Thailand Climate Observatory - Phimai (TCO-P) • Japan Climate observatory - Okinawa (JCO-O) • Korea Climate Observatory - Gosan (KCO-G) • Pacific Climate Observatory - Momote (PCO-MT) • Pacific Climate Observatory - Midway (PCO-MW) • Pacific Climate Observatory - Mauna Loa (PCO-ML)

• National Atmospheric and Climate Observatory - Trinidad Head (NACO-T)

•

2. Impact Assessment

Scientists are working on ABCs issues using observatories data and several models to generate scientific knowledge pertaining impacts of ABCs including physical, chemical, and radiative properties .

3. Mitigation (e.g. Project Surya)

Field tested clean cooking technology is a pro-environment, pro-poverty, pro-health, pro-women, politically and socially acceptable alternatives for polluting traditional cooking stoves and kerosene lamps.

ABC helped to develop consensus and effectiveness of available emission technologies.

1. Training School for student and young researchers, 100 young scientists trained

Training School at Kathmandu, Nepal

About 200 scientific articles

2002 2008 2013

2. ABC Science Team Meetings, held every year

3. Presented ABC in different forums

4. ABC Publication

4. Public Awareness and Consensus Building

5. Dynamic website: http://portal.rrcap.ait.asia/abc/

The High Level Sub-regional Consultation on Advancing Action on Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs) in Southeast and Northeast Asia was convened on 19 August 2014 in Bangkok, Thailand.

ON Short-lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs)

High level representatives of the governments from the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Health of countries in Northeast and Southeast Asia, which include Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, participated in the consultation. Senior representatives of international organizations, experts, and other stakeholders from across the region also attended the sub-regional consultation.

Recommendations and Outcome The high level consultation agreed that relevant stakeholders from countries in the region could consider taking the following next steps: • Developing integrated policies to strengthen coherence and impact effectiveness of air quality, climate change, and/or relevant sectoral action at national and subnational levels, where appropriate, and across multiple stakeholders including the private sector, notably through: o additional research and strategies to raise awareness of these benefits in support of scaling effective mitigation measures capable of realizing these benefits in the transport sector. o adoption of cook and heat stoves, lighting, and air quality standards taking into account local contexts in the residential sector. o integrating waste management and climate change (methane and black carbon) actions and policies at national and local levels, where approriate. o adoption of measures in the agriculture sector to reduce black carbon and co-emitted species.

Continuation of the recommendation: • Joining the CCAC as engaging in the Coalition represents an opportunity for countries across Asia • Participating in the SLCP Action Area of the Secretary General’s Climate Summit on the afternoon of 23 September 2014 in New York, USA. • Working with key regional institutions in Asia for them to integrate SLCPs into their relevant frameworks and processes in support to national policy making, implementation, learning and mentoring - the work plan of the Regional Forum on Environment and Health for 2014-2016, - ongoing Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) processes including, inter alia, the Plan of Work of the Working Group on Climate Change, etc.

Cooperation with other international organizations and programmes in Europe

The RRCAP as Secretariat of major air pollution programmes will continuously promote further communication and cooperation with relevant organizations and programs relating to acid deposition and transbounadary air pollution, such as : • United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (UNECE

CLRTAP) and its programmes • Cooperative Programme for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Long Range Transmission of Air Pollutant in Europe

(EMEP), • International Co-operative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (ICP-

Forest) and their Centers • UNEP Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) to reduce Short-lived Climate Pollutants • Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), University of York • Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) –donor agency

Further Cooperation and support needed - The countries in the region are so diverse and mostly the air pollution network activities

in Asia are voluntarily financially contributed by member countries. However, the support from UNECE, European community and countries in Europe on project funding or piloting projects on air pollution, technical assistance, research activities and capacity building activities are truly appreciated.

- On Male’ Declaration, the 8 Regional Technical Centres in South Asia could play key role but require funding.

- RRCAP would be happy to discuss with potential donors in Europe on project funding and implementation regarding transboundary air pollution, SLCPs and other atmospheric issues and activities.

Thank you for your attention!