Category: News

EANET 20th Anniversary and Science & Policy Dialogue – Join us on November 26!

Posted on by Aurélia Lemoine

Join us for the EANET 20th Anniversary and Science & Policy Dialogue on Friday, 26th of November 2021, from 13:00 to 16:30 Indochina Time (ICT), to discuss bridging science and policy, and better air quality for all.

 

The registration is now closed

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BACKGROUND

The Acid Deposition Monitoring Network In East Asia (EANET) has supported the region in the last 20 years. Following its success in tackling acid deposition issues, in November 2020, the 22nd Session of the Intergovernmental meeting of EANET (IG22) decided to expand the scope of the EANET from acid deposition to wider air pollution. As a continuation of the Decisions of IG22, on 24-25 November 2021, the IG23 will decide more detailed arrangements on the expansion of the scope of the EANET. In sequence to IG23, the EANET will organize two events on 26 November 2021: the Twentieth Anniversary of the EANET and the EANET Science and Policy Dialogue.

The events aim to i) celebrate the EANET’s twentieth anniversary; ii) share its publication “Summary of The Twentieth Anniversary of The Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET)” and iii) provide opportunities for policymakers and scientists to consider expectations and potential roles for new EANET. The events are open to the public and are expected to be attended by policymakers, experts, and stakeholders in the region, including partner organizations.

 

The Twentieth Anniversary of the EANET 

The EANET is a regional intergovernmental network established in 2001 to promote cooperation among thirteen Participating Countries in East Asia to address acid deposition problems. In the last 20 years, the EANET has made excellent progress in acid deposition monitoring cooperation. The EANET has fostered a regional acid deposition monitoring network and scientific knowledge exchange platform and has contributed to solving acid deposition problems in East Asia through its scientific inputs.

Accumulating the progress of the EANET in the last 20 years, a new publication, ‘Summary of The Twentieth Anniversary of The Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET),” was developed targeting policymakers and relevant stakeholders in the region. In line with this, the Ministry of the Environment of Japan (MOEJ), as the host of the IG23 of the EANET, will also host the “Twentieth Anniversary of the EANET” in commemoration of the significant milestones of the EANET in its twenty years of contribution, including the launching of the said publication.

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The EANET Science and Policy Dialogue

Following the decision to expand the scope of EANET by IG22 in 2020, the EANET continuously prepared all necessary arrangements in 2021, aiming to ensure its readiness to implement the activities and strengthen the impacts of its activities through collaboration with partners. This year, the IG23 will decide detailed arrangements of the expansion of scope as well as collaborating and funding mechanisms. In line with that, the EANET Science and Policy Dialogue will be organized virtually on 26 November 2021 with the theme “The Potential Role of EANET in Line with its Expansion of Scope”.

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Continue reading “EANET 20th Anniversary and Science & Policy Dialogue – Join us on November 26!”

EANET Awareness Workshop in 2021 – Join us on September 6!

Posted on by Aurélia Lemoine

Join us for the EANET Awareness Workshop in 2021 on Monday, 6th of September 2021, from 13:00 to 16:15 Indochina Time (ICT), to discuss international cooperation on acid deposition monitoring in East Asia.

Registration is now closed.

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Background

The Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET) was established in 2001 as a regional intergovernmental network to promote cooperation among countries in East Asia to address acid deposition problems. In the last 20 years, the EANET has made excellent progress in acid deposition monitoring cooperation. The EANET has fostered a regional acid deposition monitoring methodology and scientific exchange platform and has contributed gradually to solving acid deposition problems in East Asia.

Considering the success of the EANET in tackling the acid deposition problem and relevant issues, the Participating Countries viewed the EANET could play a new strategic role by engaging their efforts in fighting air quality issues in the region. Therefore, at the 22nd Session of the Intergovernmental Meeting (IG22) of EANET in November 2020, Participating Countries agreed to expand the scope of the EANET to include cooperation related to wider air pollution matters in the future. Furthermore, at the IG22, the Republic of Korea expressed its intention to support EANET in organizing an awareness event in 2021. Therefore, the Secretariat has been working closely with the Republic of Korea to prepare the EANET Awareness Workshop in 2021’s sessions, according to the objectives of the EANET’s awareness activities.

The EANET Awareness Forum in 2021 will be organized virtually on Monday, 6 September 13:00-16:15 Indochina Time (ICT) under the name “EANET Awareness Workshop in 2021”.

In 2019, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Resolution at its 74th session to hold an International Day of Clean Air for blue skies on 7 September to urge the need to raise public awareness and promote and facilitate actions to improve air quality. The EANET Awareness Workshop will highlight this international day’s celebration according to the EANET’s objectives and will also take the opportunity to highlight the commemoration of this important day.

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Objective and Participants

Objective: to share ideas regarding the current international cooperation among countries on acid deposition and air pollution and on the strategic role the EANET may play in strengthening the cooperation in the Region. The EANET Awareness Workshop in 2021 is expected to increase public understanding of regional acid deposition issues while reflecting the work achieved by the EANET in the last 20 years.

Participants: The EANET Awareness Workshop in 2021 will be attended by the EANET National Focal Points, EANET Scientific Advisory Committee members, policymakers and national researchers, and scientists of the Network’s 13 Participating Countries, as well as representatives of partner organizations working on acid deposition and air pollution-related issues.

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Agenda

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For further inquiries, contact the EANET Secretariat.

Updated EANET Monitoring Site Information Accessible Online

Posted on by Aurélia Lemoine

29 July 2021 – Niigata, Japan

To provide useful inputs for decision-making at the local, national, and regional levels, the Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET) has been monitoring acid deposition in East Asia for over 20 years. Recently, an updated version of the Site Information page has been released, displaying detailed information on each monitoring site.

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Monitoring Acid Deposition across East Asia

With a coverage expanded through Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Republic of Korea, Russia, Thailand, Philippines, and Viet Nam, EANET has assisted over the years in the deployment of monitoring stations in very diverse urban, rural and remote locations.

These monitoring sites gather high-quality data related to the deposition of major acidifying species and related chemical substances such as SO42-, NO3–, H+ in precipitation, SO2, NO2 ozone, and particulate matter (PM) in ambient air.

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Figure 1 – Location of acid deposition monitoring sites in 2019 (access the most recent sites’ information on the EANET Site Information page)

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Dry and Wet Deposition Monitoring

Among the EANET’s major activities, acid deposition monitoring consists mainly in the review and revision or establishment of national monitoring plans, as well as the deployment of monitoring equipment, using common methodologies, to measure wet deposition, dry deposition, analyze the impacts of these depositions on soil and vegetation as well as on the inland aquatic environment.

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Comprehensive Monitoring Site Information Available Online

Recently updated in June 2021, the Site Information webpage displays detailed information about the current 66 EANET monitoring sites, including, among others, each site’s address and location, characteristics, the monitoring period and items, and monitoring instrument name.

To find out more about the results and data on each site, visitors can also access the sites’ data reports on the Monitoring System Data Report page.

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Contact the Network Center if you wish to update any data from your monitoring site.

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Photo credits: all rights reserved to EANET.

EANET 2021 Individual Training and Research Fellowship – Call for Applications

Posted on by Aurélia Lemoine

30 April 2021 – Niigata, Japan

Among EANET’s main activities, the promotion of research and studies related to acid deposition and air pollution problems is key. In 2021, the Network Center, based in Niigata, Japan, will host the EANET 2021 Individual Training and Fellowship, virtually.

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EANET 2021 Individual Training Webinars

From 4 to 19 November 2021, the Network Center (NC) will hold Individual Training webinars to improve acid deposition monitoring capabilities in the Participating Countries.

National Focal Points (NFPs) from EANET Participating Countries will nominate suitable candidate trainees. The selected trainees are expected to present their organization, attend discussions on the different training subjects and prepare a final presentation gathering the training’s results. All meetings will take place via an online platform due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Observers from EANET Participating Countries are also invited to attend the Individual Training and may get in touch with the NC to register for the webinars.

To complete the application, NFPs must submit the Individual Training application form before 16th July 2021 (the deadline, previously set to the 30th June, has been extended) and send it to the Planning and Training Department of the NC.

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Access the program of the 2021 Individual Training.

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EANET 2021 Research Fellowship

The annual research fellowship program of the Network Center has been implemented since 2005. Young researchers from the EANET Participating Countries are invited every year for approximately two months at the Asia Center for Air Pollution Research (ACAP) in Niigata, Japan, to carry out the fellowship research related to the objectives of EANET and develop their research papers. This year, the program will be implemented using an online platform due to COVID-19 restrictions.

EANET NFPs, SAC members, Heads of National Centers, and QA/QC Managers are invited to inform their national agencies and/or research institutes of this opportunity and encourage younger and promising researchers working in the field of air pollution, co-benefits, etc. to apply for this program.

To complete the application, NFPs must submit the Fellowship application form to the Planning and Training Department of the NC before 16th July 2021 (the deadline, previously set to the 30th June, has been extended).

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See here the List of Potential Research Themes.

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Photo credits: Plants in beakers by CHUTTERSNAP, free of the copyright license.

Third Meeting of the Lead Authors and Drafting Committee Members for the Fourth Periodic Report on the State of Acid Deposition in East Asia

Posted on by Aurélia Lemoine

6 August 2021 – Niigata, Japan

The Third Meeting of the Lead Authors (LA3) and Drafting Committee Members (DC3) for the Fourth Periodic Report on the State of Acid Deposition in East Asia (PRSAD4) was held from 4-5 August 2021, virtually.

PRSADs are published every five years as comprehensive scientific assessment reports describing the outcome of EANET’s monitoring activities.

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Participants from EANET’s Research Community

The meeting was organized online by the Network Center (NC) for the Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET), Niigata, Japan.

The Drafting Committee (DC) members of the PRSAD4, including the Lead Authors, participated in the meeting. The NC and the EANET Secretariat also joined the meeting to discuss the progress of the report.

Dr. Shiro Hatakeyama, the Director-General of the NC, delivered the Welcome remarks and Prof. Fan Meng, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, delivered the Opening address as the Chairperson of the Drafting Committee.

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Review of the detailed structure of the PRSAD4

The detailed structure and contents from each chapter of the Regional Assessment of the Fourth Periodic Report on the State of Acid Deposition in East Asia were presented and discussed with all meeting participants.

Figure 1- Screenshots from some presentations and discussions during the Third Meeting of the Lead Authors and Drafting Committee Members for the Fourth Periodic Report on the State of Acid Deposition in East Asia

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Each chapter was presented by its lead author(s) including Dr. Erdenebat Eldev-Ochir (Mongolia) for Chapter 1, Dr. Sergey A. Gromov (Russia) for Chapter 2, Dr. Le Ngoc Cau (Viet Nam) and Prof. Kazuhide Matsuda (Japan) for Chapter 3, Dr. Park Jin-soo (Republic of Korea) and Prof. Fan Meng (China) for Chapter 4, Prof. Atsushi Kume (Japan) for Chapter 5 and Dr. Toshimasa Ohara (Japan) for Chapter 6.

Several other reports’ preparations were also discussed during the two-day meeting.

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Next Steps Before Publication

The PRSAD4 is scheduled to be shared as a final draft with EANET Participating Countries in August 2021, before being reviewed by the Twenty-First EANET Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC21) in October 2021 and finally approved by the Twenty-Third Intergovernmental Meeting of the EANET (IG23), in November 2021.

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Access and read the previous publications of the Periodic Report on the State of Acid Deposition in East Asia since 2006.

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Photo credits: Beppu, Japan, by Priscilla Du Preez, free of the copyright license; all other images: all rights reserved to EANET.

Second Lead Authors’ Meeting and Second Drafting Committee Meeting for the Fourth Periodic Report on the State of Acid Deposition in East Asia

Posted on by Aurélia Lemoine

9 March 2021 – Niigata, Japan

The Second Lead Authors’ Meeting (LA2) and the Second Drafting Committee Meeting (DC2) for the Fourth Periodic Report on the State of Acid Deposition in East Asia (PRSAD4) were held on 9 March 2021, virtually.

PRSADs are published every five years as comprehensive scientific assessment reports describing the outcome of EANET’s monitoring activities.

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Second Lead Authors’ Meeting and Second Drafting Committee Meeting

The meeting was organized online by the Network Center (NC) for the Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET), Niigata, Japan.

Drafting Committee (DC) members from 13 participating countries of the EANET, namely, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russia, Thailand, and Viet Nam, participated in the meeting. The NC, the EANET Secretariat, resource persons, and observers also joined the meeting to discuss the PRSAD4 preparation.

Dr. Shiro Hatakeyama, the Director General of the NC, delivered the opening remarks and Prof. Fan Meng, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, delivered the opening address as the Chairperson of the Drafting Committee.

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Structure and Content of the Regional Assessment of the Fourth Periodic Report on the State of Acid Deposition in East Asia (PRSAD4) Review

The lead authors of the respective chapters, among which Dr. Sergey Gromov (Russia), Prof. Kazuhide Matsuda (Japan) Dr. Park Jin-soo (Republic of Korea), Dr. Keiichi Sato (Japan), Prof. Atsushi Kume (Japan) and Dr. Toshimasa Ohara (Japan) presented and discussed with participants the planned detailed structure and contents of the PRSAD4. Main discussions concerned the usage of data, calculation methods, and the process to follow to submit questions to each lead author and contributor.

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Additional Publications Discussions

The Drafting Committee’s Secretariat presented the Consideration on Further Process of Report Preparation, as well as the draft Summary of the Twentieth Anniversary of EANET, and the session discussed their content.

The Third Lead Author’s Meeting (LA3) and The third Drafting Committee Meeting (DC3) for PRSAD4 will take place virtually on August 4th and 5th 2021.

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Access and read the previous publications of the Periodic Report on the State of Acid Deposition in East Asia since 2006.

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Photo credits: Niigata by Tokyo Kohaku, free of the copyright license.

Joint Projects of the EANET with Participating Countries – Development of an Emission Inventory Manual for Mongolia

Posted on by Aurélia Lemoine

31 May 2021 – Niigata, Japan

Scientists from the EANET Participating Countries and the Network Center (located in Niigata, Japan) have been promoting joint research projects related to the EANET. In response to Mongolia’s request, an Emission Inventory Manual for Mongolia was developed and published in 2018 to provide key scientific data, including estimates of emissions of air pollutants, for policymakers to develop air pollution control measures.

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Assessing Air Pollution in Mongolia

Mongolia is facing serious air pollution problems, especially in the capital, Ulaanbaatar city, where the population density is high. Most emissions of air pollutants result from the use of coal in power plants and domestic cooking. The level of air pollutants is normally high during the winter season when coal is also used for domestic heating. Emissions of air pollutants from road traffic are also quite significant. The major air pollutants detected in Ulaanbaatar city are sulfur dioxides (SO2), particle matters (TSP, PM10, PM2.5), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).

To assist Mongolia in tackling air pollution issues, several international donors and agencies (World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency) are developing and implementing projects for air pollution mitigation in Ulaanbaatar city. Since 2016, Clean Air Asia has been working closely with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism of Mongolia (MET) and the National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring (NAMEM) on addressing air pollution at a national level.

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Developing Mongolia’s National Emission Inventory

In response to Mongolia’s request, the Asia Center for Air Pollution Research (ACAP), in collaboration with SUURI-KEIKAKU Co., Ltd, has developed an Emission Inventory Manual for Mongolia, as a part of the Integrated Programme for Better Air Quality in Asia (IBAQ Programme) of Clean Air Asia (CAA).

Available in Mongolian, English, and Japanese, the Emission Inventory Manual will be used for developing Mongolia’s national emission inventory of air pollutants and further support the formulation of effective air pollution control measures.

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Read the summary of the Emission Inventory Manual in the EANET Science Bulletin, Vol 5.

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The authors appreciated the cooperation and assistance received from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism of Mongolia (MET), the National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring (NAMEM), Clean Air Asia (CAA), and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

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Photo credits: Nogoonnuur, Mongolia, by Lightscape, free of the copyright license.

Joint Projects of the EANET with Participating Countries – Catchment Analysis in Thailand

Posted on by Aurélia Lemoine

10 June 2021 – Niigata, Japan

Scientists from the EANET Participating Countries and the Network Center (located in Niigata, Japan) have been promoting joint research projects related to the EANET. Consequently, the Network Center, in cooperation with the Thai Royal Forest Department, and the Environmental Research and Training Centre (ERTC), Thailand, conducted a joint research project on catchment analysis in Thailand to understand atmospheric deposition and its effects from 2005 to 2015.

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Understanding Atmospheric Acid Deposition

Air pollution consists of significant amounts of aerosols (particulate matter) and trace gases (NOx, SOx, CO, and others). These air pollutants deposit on the earth’s surface through dry depositions and wet depositions (when dissolved in water droplets in clouds).

Wet and dry depositions of air pollutants cause detrimental impacts on the ecosystems and environment, including the acidification of the water bodies, such as rivers and lakes.

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Analyzing Acid Deposition and its Effects in Northeastern Thailand for Nearly 10 Years

The joint research project aimed to study the atmospheric wet deposition of acidic components and other relevant pollutants including elemental carbon, as well as their influence on water chemistry, chemical properties of soil, nutrient fluxes in soil-plant system, and sulfur dynamics in forest ecosystems.

For the catchment analysis, scientists from the Network Center established a study plot in a dry evergreen forest in Sakaerat Silvicultural Research Station, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, northeastern Thailand. The surveys on-site allowed researchers to accumulate nine full years of data, from October 2005 to December 2014.

Based on these results, several scientific papers were published in international journals focusing mainly on atmospheric deposition, soil and stream water chemistry. Ultimately, these scientific outputs significantly contributed to enhancing the global understanding of atmospheric deposition and its effects on forest ecosystems in the region.

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Read the Report of the joint research project on catchment analysis in Thailand in the EANET Science Bulletin, Vol 5.

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The authors acknowledged Jesada Luangjame, Thiti Visaratana, and Bopit Kietvuttinon, Royal Forest Department for their great contribution to the Sakaerat project including other colleagues who were involved in the project.  The study was supported financially by the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (JP20120012) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT), Japan, the Environment Research and Technology Development Fund (C-052, C-082 and B-0801) from the Ministry of the Environment of Japan, and Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN).

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Photo credits: Sakaerat forest by Sase H., all rights reserved.

The Working Group Meeting in 2021 Session 1

Posted on by Aurélia Lemoine

26 April 2021 – Bangkok, Thailand

The Working Group Meeting in 2021 Session 1 for the EANET (WG2021-1) was held virtually from  20-22 April 2021. The meeting made good progress on several key results concerning the  EANET’s expansion of scope.

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The Working Group Meeting in 2021 Session 1

Nearly 70 participants, including members from the EANET Participating Countries, joined the WG2021-1 meeting.

At the meeting, the Participating Countries showed their keen interest in exchanging and brainstorming on the possible ways to prepare necessary arrangements for the expansion of the scope of the EANET.

Co-chaired by Thailand and by the Philippines, the session started with Welcome Remarks from Dr. Isabelle Louis, Deputy Regional Director, United Nations Environment Programme for Asia & the Pacific, followed by Opening Remarks by Dr. Shiro Hatakeyama, Director General, Asia Center for Air Pollution Research.

 

From left to right, screenshots from Dr. Isabelle Louis, Deputy Regional Director, UNEP for Asia & the Pacific, Dr. Shiro Hatakeyama, Director General, ACAP, and Mr. Tomi Haryadi, EANET Coordinator.
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Drafting the Expansion of Scope of EANET Instrument

The Working Group Meetings in 2021 Session 1 and 2 were established, following the decision of the IG22, in November 2020, to facilitate the  Participating Countries’ work on necessary arrangements for the expansion of the scope of the EANET Instrument.

Screenshots from discussions during the virtual Working Group meeting.

In the meeting, the Participating Countries had the opportunity to share their views on the initial draft text of the Supplementary Document to the EANET Instrument. On the second and third days, the Participating Countries reviewed other key documents, such as the proposed arrangements for the EANET project fund.

The discussions held at this meeting will continue during the WG2021-2 in August 2021 before submitting the final documents to the IG23 in November 2021.

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Discover the virtual meeting’s pictures on Flickr.

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Photos credits: all rights reserved to EANET.

The Working Group Meeting in 2021 Session 2

Posted on by Aurélia Lemoine

23 August 2021 – Bangkok, Thailand

The Working Group Meeting in 2021 Session 2 (WG2021-2) took place from 18 to 20 August 2021, virtually, and gathered over 70 representatives of the EANET Participating Countries, Secretariat and Network Center for the EANET, to discuss the process of expansion of the scope of the EANET, among other important topics.

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The Working Group Meeting in 2021 Session 2

Following the decision of the 22nd Intergovernmental Meeting (IG22) held in November 2020, the WG2021-2 was organized in the continuity of the WG2021-1 that took place in April 2021.

Co-chaired by Thailand and by the Philippines, the session started with Welcome Remarks from Dr. Dechen Tsering, Regional Director, United Nations Environment Programme for Asia & the Pacific, followed by Opening Remarks by Dr. Shiro Hatakeyama, Director General, Asia Center for Air Pollution Research.

Figure 1: Welcome, Opening, and Closing Remarks delivered during the WG2021-2 meeting.

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Sharing views on the Draft Text to Supplement EANET’s Instrument

Participants discussed their views and ideas on the development of a Draft text of the Supplementary Document to EANET Instrument, in the form of an Annex. Several items of the draft text were discussed, allowing Participating Countries to share suggestions and comments on how to best reflect the Network’s intention regarding future activities in the Region.

Other important topics, such as the Project Fund Mechanism and the Work Programme and Budget for the EANET in 2022, among others, were also discussed.

Figure 2: Screenshots from discussions during the virtual Working Group meeting.

The meeting’s Closing remarks were provided by Dr. Isabelle Louis, Deputy Regional Director, United Nations Environment Programme for Asia & the Pacific, and by Dr. Erdenebat, ACAP’s Deputy Director-General. As Dr. Erdenebat’s role as Deputy Director-General is coming to an end, he thanked all Participating Countries and colleagues from the Secretariat and the NC for their constant support.

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Given the importance of the task assigned to them, Representatives from the EANET Participating Countries have agreed to meet again for a continued WG2021 Session 2 before IG23 in November 2021.

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Discover the virtual meeting’s pictures on Flickr.

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Photos credits: all rights reserved to EANET.