26 October 2020 – Bangkok, Thailand

The Working Group (WG) Session 2 Meeting on Drafting Medium Term Plan for the EANET (2021-2025) and on Reviewing Scope of Instrument for the EANET was held virtually from the 20^th  to the 22^nd  October 2020, gathering over 50 representatives from the Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET)’s Participating Countries.

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Shaping the Network’s future in action

Following the Session 1 of the meeting held last July, participants met again online to work together on the Medium Term Plan for the EANET (2021-2025) defining the Network’s future activities for the next 5 years, while also discussing a possible expansion of the scope of the EANET’s Instrument.

For three days, from 20-22 October 2020, National Focal Points and representatives from Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Republic of Korea, Russia, Thailand, Philippines, and Viet Nam joined the EANET’s Secretariat, Network Center and the United Nations Environment Programme teams to discuss in detail how they envision the future of their Network.

The Session was initiated by the Welcome Remarks of Dr. Dechen Tsering, Regional Director, and Representative, United Nations Environment Programme for Asia & the Pacific, who emphasized the importance of the mandate of the EANET, as part of growing momentum for international cooperation on air quality in the region.

Dr. Shiro Hatakeyama, Director General, Asia Center for Air Pollution Research, delivered the Opening Remarks and highlighted the importance of the 2^nd Working Group Meeting to determine the future activities of the EANET. Mr. Yuichi Nagasaka, Director of the Air Environment Division, Environmental Management Bureau, Ministry of Environment, Japan, also delivered Remarks to greet participants and reaffirm Japan’s support to the EANET.

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MTP for the EANET (2021-2025)

At the end of the 3-day meeting, the Session agreed on Recommendations to be submitted to the 22^nd Session of the Intergovernmental Meeting, next November (IG22).

In these Recommendations, it is suggested to adopt the final draft of Medium Term Plan (MTP) (2021-2025) as well as the final draft of Work Programme and Budget in 2021 (WP&B 2021) that will be prepared according to the discussion at the Working Group Meeting sessions and relevant follow-up discussions.

In addition, the Working Group recommended the IG22 to recognize that “some activities relating to air pollution are a major interest to Participating Countries but may be beyond the current scope of the EANET. This includes types of activities and/or substances or targets areas that are related to air pollution beyond acid deposition” and to “ Express support for the need to expand the scope of the Instrument.”

EANET National Focal Points will meet again at the IG22, from 25 to 26 November 2020 through an online platform and discuss the finalization of the MTP (2021-2025) and Work Programme and Budget for the EANET in 2021 by considering the Recommendations of the WG Meeting.

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Curious about EANET’s activity? Find out more about the next EANET Meeting dates on the Event’s page and discover the pictures of the Working Group Meetings on Flickr.