27 November 2020 - Bangkok, Thailand
The twenty-second session of the Intergovernmental Meeting (IG22) on the Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET) was held virtually from 25 – 26 November 2020. It was concluded with major decisions on the approval of the Medium Term Plan (MTP, 2021-2025) and Work Programme and Budget in 2021, as well as the decision to start expanding the scope of EANET’s Instrument.
Over 50 representatives from Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Republic of Korea, Russia, Thailand, Philippines, and Viet Nam participated, discussing in detail how they envision the future of their Network.
Chaired by Thailand, the session began with welcome remarks from Mr. Thalearngsak Petchsuwan, Deputy-Director General, Pollution Control Department, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Thailand; followed by opening remarks by Dr. Dechen Tsering, Regional Director and Representative, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for Asia & the Pacific; and words from Dr. Shiro Hatakeyama, Director General, Asia Center for Air Pollution Research.
Medium Term Plan
After almost two years of discussions among the participating countries, the IG22 approved the EANET MTP, Work Programme and Budget for 2021.
Detailing the actions that will take place during the next five years, the MTP regroups activities related to five key objectives: monitoring of acid deposition including related chemical substances with quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC); promotion of data utilization and dissemination; promotion of capacity building; enhancement of outreach activities; and enhancement of cooperation and collaboration.
Beyond acid deposition: future activities
The IG22 recognized activities related to air pollution as of major interest to participating countries, although it considered them to be beyond the current scope of the EANET.
For 20 years, based on the Instrument for the Strengthening the Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET), the EANET has been working specifically on acid deposition monitoring.
Marking an important milestone for the Network, participating countries agreed to initiate an expansion of the Instrument’s scope, allowing the EANET to work on wider air quality and air pollution issues in the near future..
Find out more about the IG22 by reading the Report of the Session, and discover the pictures of the IG22 Meeting on Flickr.
