17 December 2025 – Bangkok, Thailand

The Twenty-seventh Session of the Intergovernmental Meeting (IG27) on the Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET) was held in Bangkok, Thailand, from 27 to 28 November 2025, in the margins of the 2025 Clean Air Week. Representatives from the 13 Participating Countries of the EANET joined the hybrid Intergovernmental Meeting, in person and online. About 70 participants from the EANET countries, Secretariat and Network Center for the EANET, UNEP, and observers, engaged in key discussions focusing mainly on the future activities of the Network, including on the adoption of the new Medium-Term Plan for the EANET (2026-2030).

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Strengthened Regional Cooperation to Address Air Pollution

Hosted and chaired by the Kingdom of Thailand, the IG27 started with Welcome Remarks by Mr. Chirapong Kuhakanchana, Deputy Director General, Pollution Control Department, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Thailand. In his remarks, Mr. Chirapong underscored Thailand’s recent air quality improvements and strong national actions and reaffirmed the country’s full support for strengthened regional collaboration through the EANET.

Dr. Dechen Tsering, Regional Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Regional Office Asia Pacific (ROAP), delivered the Opening Remarks. In her remarks, she emphasized the region’s persistent air pollution challenges and recognized EANET’s progress over 25 years. Dr. Tsering underscored the urgency of stronger regional cooperation and upcoming transitions, including EANET’s new Medium-Term Plan and broader UN reforms.

Dr. Toshimasa Ohara, Director General of the Asia Center for Air Pollution Research (ACAP), delivered the Introductory Remarks, and highlighted East Asia’s air pollution challenges. He emphasized EANET’s crucial role and emerging priorities and underscored the importance of the IG27 in adopting the Medium-Term Plan (2026-2030) and the 2026 Work Programme and Budget.

The session elected Thailand as the Chairperson, Lao PDR and Viet Nam as Vice-Chairpersons, and Japan as the Rapporteur. The Bureau of the IG27 will remain in office until the next Intergovernmental Meeting, to be held in Niigata, Japan, in November 2026.

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EANET’s Future Direction and Strategy

In addition to adopting several important documents, such as the 2024 Progress and Financial Reports, and Work Program and Budget in 2026, the IG27 also endorsed the 2024 Data Report and the Report on the Inter-laboratory Comparison Projects, the Guidelines for Establishing Hybrid Air Quality Monitoring Network, and the Technical Manual for Hybrid Air Quality Monitoring with Low-Cost Sensors, which had been approved by the Twenty-fifth Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC25) on the EANET held in Vientiane, Lao PDR, from 20 to 22 October 2025.

Furthermore, in a key decision, the IG27 approved the EANET’s new Medium-Term Plan (MTP) (2026–2030), which concluded discussions from a series of consultations and meetings in 2024 and 2025.

The MTP (2026-2030) aims to define the strategic outcomes and priority actions for EANET’s work programme for the next five years in line with the EANET Instrument and its Annex. The fifth MTP (2026-2030) is the first MTP that substantially addresses EANET’s expanded scope with wider atmospheric environment pollutants which was adopted in 2021 at IG23.

Additional US$380,000 Allocated for Air Quality Projects in 2026

In addition to the Core Budget of the EANET for its ongoing activities focused mainly on monitoring, and supporting its meetings and awareness activities, the IG27 approved eleven EANET Projects under the EANET Project Fund.

The proposed projects cover a comprehensive set of technical and capacity-building priorities, including the collection of long-term atmospheric nitrogen data, advanced PM2.5 source identification, and broader integrated monitoring efforts that also strengthen understanding and capacities of ozone and VOC pollution across the region. They further support improved use of satellite observations, and stronger national skills in emissions monitoring, financing strategies, and project planning. In parallel, the portfolio promotes regional leadership through fellowships, international trainings for government officials, and targeted workshops on sustainable agricultural practices and air quality legislation—providing EANET countries with practical tools to better manage air pollution in East and Southeast Asia.

A total of over US$387,000 was pledged through the EANET Project Fund, including financial and in-kind support from China (Fudan University), Japan (MOEJ), Thailand (Pollution Control Department, and the Thailand Environment Institute), the Republic of Korea (NIER), and UNEP.

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Read the MTP (2026-2030) and the Report of IG27.

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View the IG27 photos.

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Photo credits: all rights reserved to EANET.