[sustran] MEDIA ADVISORY: First Governmental Meeting on Urban Air Quality in Asia

[mrco at adb.org]

(apologies for cross-postings)


MEDIA ADVISORY: First Governmental Meeting on Urban Air Quality in Asia

13-14 December, 2006
Yogyakarta, Indonesia 


The Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia), the State Ministry 
of Environment of the Republic of Indonesia, United Nations Centre for 
Regional Development (UNCRD), and United Nations Environment Program 
(UNEP) will jointly organize the First Governmental Meeting on Urban Air 
Quality in Asia on 13-14 December 2006 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Air pollution is now a priority issue in most countries in Asia. 
Governments in Asia are investing more resources in monitoring urban air 
quality and have imposed increasingly tighter emission standards for 
vehicles and industries. Asian countries share common challenges in urban 
air quality management and can learn from each other by being part of a 
common forum. 

The First Governmental Meeting on Urban Air Quality in Asia provides a 
forum for government agencies to discuss common challenges in urban air 
quality management and harmonize methods and standards on urban air 
quality management in the region. 

It is expected that the meeting will support efforts of Asian governments 
to arrive at more optimal air pollution abatement strategies. 

This meeting will be part of the Better Air Quality (BAQ) 2006 workshop, 
the largest regional event on urban air quality management in Asia.

CAI-Asia: The Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia) was 
established in 2001 and has members and activities in major cities in most 
of the Asian countries. The mission of CAI-Asia is to improve urban air 
quality management through partnerships and sharing experiences. It 
promotes the adoption and implementation of air quality management 
policies and programs. It undertakes supportive actions on knowledge 
management, capacity building, networking and pilot programs.

Indonesian Ministry of Environment: The State Ministry of Environment of 
the Republic of Indonesia is the lead department for urban air quality 
management in Indonesia. It has initiated the formulation of a national 
clean air act to intensify air quality management activities. The Ministry 
has taken the initiative to host BAQ 2006 in Indonesia to showcase its air 
quality management efforts and to receive inputs from experts worldwide in 
the formulation of the clean air act.

UNEP: UNEP facilitates and promotes intergovernmental cooperation on 
regional air pollution issues in Asia and the Pacific region. These 
initiatives include: (a) the ASEAN Haze Agreement, which is the first 
official intergovernmental agreement on air pollution in Asia; (b) the 
East Asian Network on Acid Deposition (EANET), (c) the Malé Declaration on 
Control and Prevention of Air Pollution and its Likely Transboundary 
Effects for South Asia, (d) Regional Environment Action Plan for Central 
Asia, (e) the Atmospheric Brown Cloud study, and (f) Prevention and 
Control of Dust and Sandstorms in North East Asia.

UNCRD: UNCRD and the Ministry of the Environment of the Government of 
Japan have jointly initiated the Regional Environmentally Sustainable 
Transport (EST) Forum which provides a strategic/ knowledge platform for 
sharing experiences among Asian countries and disseminating best 
practices, policy instruments, tools, and technologies, in relation to 
various aspects of EST.

For further details, please contact:

CAI-Asia        :       Mr. Cornie Huizenga,
                        Tel: +63-2-632-5047 
                        Email: chuizenga at adb.org 

MoE/Indonesia   :       Mr. Ridwan Tamin
                        Tel. +. 62 21 85911207
                        Email: baq2006 at menlh.go.id
 
UNEP            :       Mylvakanam Iyngararasan
                        Tel: + 66 2 524 6239
                        Email: Mylvakanam.Iyngararasan at rrcap.unep.org 

 
UNCRD   :       Choudhury Rudra Charan Mohanty,
                        Tel:  + 81-52-561-9417 
                        Email: mohantyc at uncrd.or.jp 


 
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