The Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET) Awareness Workshop 2021 took place on Monday, 6 September, in partnership with the Republic of Korea (ROK). Over 200 people from 16 countries gathered to discuss acid deposition and air pollution international cooperation.
Opening Session and General Lecture
Dechen Tsering, Regional Director and Representative of UNEP’s Asia and the Pacific Office delivered opening remarks along with Shiro Hatakeyama, Director-General of the Asia Center for Air Pollution Research (ACAP) and Yongchul Lee, Vice-Governor 1 for Administrative Affairs of Gyeonggi Province.
Siwaporn Rungsiyanon, EANET National Focal Point of Thailand and Director of the Transboundary Air Pollution Subdivision, Air Quality and Noise Management Division of the Pollution Control Department at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment delivered the general lecture - entitled “International Day of Clean Air for blue skies and EANET’s potential role to achieve this goal.”
Ms. Rungsiyanon provided an overview of the growing threats linked to air pollution in Asia and the Pacific. She also highlighted EANET’s 20 years of acid deposition monitoring, capacity building, awareness-raising, and continuous engagement among EANET Participating Countries and partners.
Panel Discussion on International Cooperation
The panel discussion focused on “International cooperation to fight against acid deposition and air pollution: What can we learn from the EANET’s experience, and what role could the EANET play as a regional role model in the near future?”
The panel discussed EANET’s highlights of success, challenges, opportunities, and best practices. Panellists included:
- EANET National Focal Point of China Zhou Jun, Director of the Division of Asian, African and Latin American Affairs, Department of International Cooperation Ministry of Ecology and Environment
- Mohan Kumar Sammathuria, Principal Assistant Director, Atmospheric Sciences and Cloud Seeding Division, Malaysian Meteorological Department Ministry of Environment and Water, Malaysia
- EANET Scientific Advisory Committee Member Jundy T. Del Socorro, Supervising Environmental Management Specialist, Air Quality Management Section, Environmental Quality Management Division, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Environmental Management Bureau, the Philippines
- EANET Scientific Advisory Committee Member Sangmin Nam, Deputy Head, ESCAP East and North-East Asia Office
- Maria Katharina Patdu, Coordinator, Asia Pacific Clean Air Partnership
- Tomi Haryadi, Coordinator of EANET Secretariat
- Ken Yamashita, EANET Network Center
Special Session on the Republic of Korea
The Special Session focused on sharing experience from ROK in acid deposition and air quality management. Imseok Chang, Senior Researcher, National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER), ROK, co-facilitated the session.
Other presenters included James Crawford, Senior Scientist for Atmospheric Chemistry at NASA, Langley Research Center, USA; Chang-Sub Shim, Chief Research Fellow, Korea Environment Institute (KEI), ROK and Chul Yoo, Director, National Air Emission Inventory and Research Center, ROK.
Ways Forward – From Capacity to Partnerships’ Building
Three key conclusion points were raised from the Awareness Workshop’s rich discussions. First, the EANET was recognized as a role model initiative, providing robust regional monitoring data, technical assistance, and analysis, disseminating its knowledge to key organizations across the region. Secondly, the importance of capacity-building activities was highlighted. Finally, as a way forward, the EANET will strive at enhancing stronger and more extensive partnerships to create synergy, strengthen programs and magnify the impact on beneficiaries.
Useful Resources
Detailed Workshop’s content: EANET Awareness Workshop in 2021 Event Report
View all Workshop’s videos on the Secretariat for the EANET’s YouTube channel
Download the Workshop’s presentations:
