17 May 2023 – Bangkok, Thailand

The EANET Online Meeting on the Revision of Guidelines in 2023 (OM2023) was held virtually on 10 May 2023. National Focal Points representing the EANET Participating Countries discussed revisions of important administrative documents to reflect the recent expansion of the scope of the EANET to wider air quality issues and the establishment of the EANET Project Fund mechanism.

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The EANET Online Meeting on the Revision of Guidelines in 2023

The Session was led by the same bureau of officers as for the Twenty-fourth Session of the Intergovernmental Meeting (IG24) on the EANET in 2022.

Co-chaired by the Philippines and the Republic of Korea, the session started with Introductory Remarks from Bert Fabian, Coordinator of the Secretariat for the EANET.

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Around 65 participants, members from the EANET Participating Countries, the Network Center and Secretariat for the EANET, joined the OM2023 meeting to agree on sections to be revised in the Guidelines on the Administrative and Financial Management for the Secretariat and the Network Center, and to the EANET Project Fund and Project Guideline.

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Strategizing the Implementation of New Air Quality Management Activities

In 2021, the Twenty-third Session of the Intergovernmental Meeting on the Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (IG23) decided to expand the EANET’s scope to cover wider air pollution issues with the adoption of the Annex to the EANET Instrument. At the same time, the EANET Project Fund was established to encourage collaboration outside of the EANET network and mobilize more resources.

With these changes, EANET is developing new activities in 2023 and 2024, in collaboration with partners in its region and beyond. In early 2023 for instance, the EANET launched its first Project Activity on technical assistance related to Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) monitoring.

During the OM2023 meeting, the Participating Countries had the opportunity to share their views on how to best reflect the changes related to the expanded scope and the Project Fund mechanism in key administrative documents. Discussions will continue at the Working Group Meeting (WG2023) of EANET in 2023 which will be organized online from 22-23 August 2023.

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Read the Meeting report here.

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Photos credits: Trees by Alberto Restifo on Unsplash, 2015; all other pictures: all rights reserved to EANET.