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Expert Consultation Meeting on NEASPEC Activities in the Field of Transboundary Air Pollution in North-East Asia

20 January 2011 - 21 January 2011
Incheon, Republic of Korea
TAP ECM 2011

The meeting facilitated in-depth discussions on the proposal submitted by the Russian Federation on the “Establishment of a regional system for adverse environmental impact assessment of air pollution” and its relevance in the context of the current mechanisms and identified opportunities for improvement.

Participants exchanged views and information on existing regional/subregional mechanisms on transboundary air pollution to identify gaps in the existing approaches and methodologies under those mechanisms. The meeting also discussed the vast experience and expertise accumulated under the United Nations Economic Commission of Europe (UNECE), Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) in order to search for possibilities of taking stock of the institutional and scientific frameworks established by the Convention in the context of the North-East Asian subregion.

20 Jan 2011
Opening Session

Welcome address and opening speech

  • Mr. Peter Van Laere, Director, UN ESCAP Subregional Office for East and North-East Asia
  • Mr. Heung-kyeong Park, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Republic of Korea 

Introduction to goals and objectives of the meeting

  • Overview of transboundary cooperation mechanisms on air pollution in East and North-East Asia and the role of NEASPEC, Mr. Sangmin Nam, Secretariat of NEASPEC

 

Session 1: Current regional and subregional initiatives for transboundary cooperation on air pollution
  • Scientific approaches and transboundary cooperation mechanism of EANET, Dr. Jesada Luangjaime, Deputy Director General, Asia Centre for Air Pollution Research, Japan
  • Results of transboundary air pollution modeling exercise conducted by China, Japan and the Republic of Korea within the LTP mechanism, Dr. Chang Lim Seok, Air Quality Research Division, National Institute of Environmental Research, Republic of Korea
  • Scientific assessment of health effects of air pollution in North-East Asia and the related transboundary cooperation mechanisms, Prof. Yun-Chul Hong, Seoul National University College of Medicine
Session 2: Current methodologies for the assessment of environmental impacts of air pollution in North-East Asia and Europe
  • Institutional and scientific framework for assessment of environmental impacts of air pollution within the UNECE CLRTAP, Mr. Krzysztof Olendrzynski, Secretariat of UNECE CLRTAP
  • Results of environmental impact assessment of air pollution in Mongolia, Mr. Tsendeekhuu Munkhbat, Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism and Mrs. Norovsambuu Gankhuu, Air Quality Agency of the City of Ulaanbaatar

Questions for discussion:

  • How can the experience accumulated by the UNECE CLRTAP benefit North-East Asia? What methodologies and best practices can be replicated in this subregion?
  • What are the needs for harmonization of scientific methodologies and approaches of assessing environmental impact of air pollution in North-East Asia?
Session 3: New scientific and technical approaches proposed within the frames of NEASPEC and possible work plan
  • Proposal for establishment of a Regional System for Adverse Environmental Impact Assessment of Air Pollution, Mr. Alexander Romanov, Head of International Cooperation Section, Scientific Research Institute for atmospheric air protection (SRI Atmosphere, JSC), Russian Federation

​​​​​​​Questions for discussion:

    • Why such a study is needed for the North-East Asian subregion?
    • What can be the scope of the study and its timeframe?
Wrap-up of the day
21 Jan 2011
Session 3 continued
  • Recent developments on black carbon and further actions on some pollutants within the UNECE CLRTAP, Mr. Krzysztof Olendrzynski, Secretariat of UNECE CLRTAP

Questions for discussion:

  • What are possible opportunities to exploit the co-benefit options in tackling air pollution and mitigating climate change in North-East Asian subregion?
  • What is the situation with black carbon, tropospheric ozone and PM pollutants in the subregion and what additional measures are needed to address these issues?
Short presentations by delegations followed by a discussion
  • Each delegation will make a short presentation (1-2 slides) and provide its concrete comments, revisions and/or additions to the proposal submitted by the Russian Federation

Discussion

  • The participants will work together on finalization of the main scope and modalities of the proposed study with a view  of proposing a preliminary work plan for the proposal to be submitted to the 16th Senior Officials Meeting
  • It is expected that the participants will agree on a set of possible recommendations for further action in this regard for SOM
Conclusions and planning of future work