The Asia Pacific Clean Air Partnership aims to
- Serve as a mechanism for better coordination and collaboration of clean air programs in the region
- Provide a platform to generate and share knowledge on air pollution initiatives, policies and technologies in the Asia Pacific region
- Strengthen institutional capacity, provide technical assistance on air quality management; and support air quality assessments to identify solutions for clean air.
Joint Forum
The Asia Pacific Clean Air Partnership Joint Forum has become the key venue in the Asia Pacific for sharing latest policy-relevant scientific knowledge, and information on the state of national and international efforts. The Joint Forum also aims to identify priority air quality issues, promote regional approaches to combat the priority issues where appropriate and identify appropriate forums and existing mechanisms to help address air pollution challenges of the region.
2018 Asia Pacific Clean Air Partnership Joint Forum
Organized as part of the Clean Air Week, the 2018 Asia Pacific Clean Air Partnership Joint Forum brought together over 300 delegates from governments, civil society, private sector and international organizations from the region to discuss solutions for clean air. The Joint Forum was convened as part of the region’s response to implement Resolution 3/8 of the third UN Environment Assembly Resolution. It was recognized that the knowledge sharing and dialogue platform provided by the Asia Pacific Clean Air Partnership Joint Forum is very timely as governments in the region are stepping up their commitment and action to tackle air pollution.
Science Panel
The Asia Pacific Clean Air Partnership Science Panel was established to bring together scientific expertise from the multiple regional initiatives to provide clear policy options based on the best science to support action on air pollution in Asia Pacific. The APCAP Science Panel supported the development of the “Air Pollution in Asia Pacific: Science Based Solutions Report” and developed policy briefs on key policy relevant science issues.
Current members of the Science Panel:
- Chair: Jiming Hao, Chair, China
- Vice Chair: Hajime Akimoto, Japan
- Markus Amann, Austria
- Jiang Kejun, China
- Zhang Shiqiu, China
- Veerabhadran Ramanathan, India
- Jayaraman Srinivasan, India
- Kalpana Balakrishnan, India
- Teruyuki Nakajima, Japan
- Young Sunwoo, Republic of Korea
- Rajasekhar Balasubramanian, Singapore
- Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh, Thailand
Policy Briefs
The APCAP Science Panel developed three clean air policy briefs focused on (1) PM2.5 and ozone co-benefits of co-control; (2) Reducing exposure to particulate matter in indoor environments; and (3) Policy showcase: Clean energy transition in China.
Support to members
Sixteen countries have joined the Asia Pacific Clean Air Partnership since 2015: Afghanistan, Cambodia, India, Iran, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand. In 2019, Gyeonggi Provincial Government from Republic of Korea joined the partnership.
Capacity Building
Strengthening capacity of member states to respond to air pollution issues is one of the areas of action in the UN Environment Assembly resolutions on air quality (1/7 and 3/8). APCAP developed a Capacity Building Programme for National Air Quality Managers which aims to strengthen their capacity on identifying emission sources and targets for clean air; developing/reviewing national action plans/strategies for reducing air pollution; and raising awareness.
Technical Assistance
The Partnership supported Mongolia, Sri Lanka and Thailand to conduct air quality and health assessments which were used for evidence-based policy making. Agra and Phnom Penh received support to develop clean air plans.
