30 September 2025, Bangkok, Thailand

EANET joined the Second Northeast Asia Clean Air Partnership (NEACAP) Science Policy Dialogue and the NEACAP National Workshop on Air Quality Management held on 23–24 September 2025 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The EANET Secretariat was invited to moderate and speak during the events, marking an important step in strengthening collaboration between EANET and NEACAP. The National Workshop also served as the EANET National Awareness Workshop for Mongolia.

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Policy Dialogue Highlights

Organized back-to-back with the 28th Senior Officials Meeting (SOM-28) of the North-East Asian Subregional Programme for Environmental Cooperation (NEASPEC), the Policy Dialogue gathered policymakers, technical experts, and regional organizations to discuss clean air cooperation. During the meeting, the 2025 report “NEACAP Policy Analysis Report: Successes and Challenges in Addressing Air Pollution in North-East Asia” was launched. The report highlighted persisting challenges such as rising ground-level ozone, urban and agricultural emissions, and the growing influence of climate change on air quality.

The Dialogue also emphasized the need for integrated approaches linking air quality and climate change, which is a key focus area of the newly adopted NEACAP Work Plan 2026–2030. National experiences from China, Japan, Mongolia, the Republic of Korea, and Russia showcased opportunities for policy alignment and shared learning.

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Mongolia’s Progress and Future Directions

The National Workshop on 24 September spotlighted Mongolia’s ongoing air quality management initiatives. Dr. Tsatsral Batmunkh, EANET National Focal Point and Director of the Central Laboratory of Environment and Metrology, NAMEM, underscored Mongolia’s long-standing engagement with EANET and the benefits of the Network’s QA/QC guidelines in improving monitoring data quality.

Mongolia currently operates 19 monitoring stations in Ulaanbaatar and 2 in Erdenet, with new stations to be installed in 21 provinces with support from the Republic of Korea in 2025. Policy updates included a new National Committee for Air Pollution Reduction (2024) and a target to phase out solid fuels by 2040. The government also plans amendments to the Air Law and Air Pollution Charges Law, alongside new investment mechanisms and long-term pollution reduction plans.

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Enhancing Cooperation on Air Quality in Northeast Asia and Beyond

EANET reaffirmed its readiness to support Mongolia and regional partners through the EANET Project Fund. Ongoing collaboration with NEACAP to advance clean air across Northeast Asia and beyond is also in line with efforts to increase regional cooperation as part of the development of the EANET’s next Medium-Term Plan (2026-2030) to be considered for approval at the 27th Intergovernmental Meeting (IG27) on the EANET in November 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand.

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Find out more about the EANET Project Fund.

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Photo credits: Mongolia, Ulan Bator, building, and land (2019) by Snowscat ; other photos: all rights reserved to NEACAP.