Asia-Pacific air quality communities of practice

The first meeting of what is about to become “Asia-Pacific air quality communities of practice” was held in June 26, 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand, around the topic of electric mobility to address air pollution in Asia and the Pacific.

UN Environment is working with air quality practitioners in Asia and the Pacific to strengthen air quality community in the region with the support from the US Department of State. This effort is to support the implementation of the UN Environment Assembly Air Quality Resolutions as adopted in its first and third session (Resolution 1/7 and 3/8).

Recognizing the critical role of existing air quality community in Asia and the Pacific, the event took place as part of the Awareness Forum on Prevention of Air Pollution in Asia Pacific organized by Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET), with partner organizations and initiatives from 25 to 27 June 2019. Established in 1998, EANET is an established intergovernmental network of air quality stakeholders in the region.

The session served as the first meeting of the communities of practice to be established under the project “Strengthening Air Quality Communities of Practice in the Asia-Pacific.” Globally, around 7 million people died prematurely because of exposure to household and ambient air pollution (WHO, 2014). It is the low- and middle-income countries in the Western Pacific and South East Asian regions that bear most of the burden with over 5 million premature deaths.

Bert Fabian of UN Environment opened the session with an introduction to the project overview, stating that a major disruption is needed to achieve a wider uptake of e-mobility for human health and climate change. "With significant fleet growth and rapid urbanization in the region” he said “it is particularly crucial for this region to push forward policies that will promote the use of electric vehicles to mitigate emissions from the road transport sector.”

It was evident that electric mobility is gaining momentum in Asia and the Pacific. There is, however, still a lot of work to do as electric mobility presents an opportunity for economic, health and climate solutions. “Clear government policies with support mechanisms and targets” are needed to drive the shift to e-mobility, according to Bhushan Tuladhar of Clean Energy Nepal.

Other key aspects of e-mobility were discussed during the event. It included the current status of air pollution from the road transport sector, emission forecasting based on the different levels of uptake of e-mobility, roles and challenges of the private sector in promoting e-mobility.

The countries that were represented in the workshop are Indonesia, China, Republic of Korea, Japan, Vietnam, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Bangladesh, Nepal, the Philippines, Mongolia and there were representatives of Asian Institute of Technology, Bakrie Autoparts, Clean Air Asia, Clean Energy Nepal, Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines, JICA, Peking University and Yu. A. Izrael Institute of Global Climate and Ecology.

Session R10 – Accelerating Electric Mobility in Asia Pacific

• Mr. Bert Fabian, UN Environment   
• Dr. Ye Wu, Tsinghua University, China
• Mr. Bhushan Tuladhar, UN-Habitat
• Mr. Dino Ahmad Ryandi, Bakrie Autoparts Group, Indonesia