Press Release

November 29, 2021
  • Air & Transportation

Outcome of the 23rd Session of the Intergovernmental Meeting on the Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET)

The 23rd session of the Intergovernmental Meeting (IG23) on the Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET IG23) was held online on November 24 and 25, 2021. At this session chaired by Japan and co-chaired by Malaysia and Viet Nam, IG23 adopted the text for the supplementary document (Annex) to the Instrument for the strengthening of EANET, which specifies activities targeting air quality issues more broadly, in addition to activities related to acid deposition, and guidelines for the management of the EANET Project Fund. To celebrate EANET's 20th anniversary, a commemorative event, the "EANET 20th Anniversary and the Science & Policy Dialogue," was held on November 26.

1. Outline of IG23

Date: November 24 and 25, 2021

Venue: Online

Participants:

Delegates from the 13 Participating Countries of EANET (Japan [the Chair of IG23], Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russia, Thailand, and Viet Nam)

From MOEJ:

SHODA Yutaka, Vice-Minister for Global Environment

MORIMITSU Keiko, Councilor

Other officials

Reference:

EANET is an intergovernmental network aiming at promoting cooperation among the countries coping with acid deposition issues in East Asia. Launched under Japan's initiatives, it started activities at full scale in January 2001. Currently, 13 countries participate in EANET

https://www.eanet.asia/

2. Outline of the Outcome

(1) Expansion of the scope of EANET activities

IG23 adopted an Annex to the "Instrument for Strengthening EANET," which expands the scope of activities for coping with atmospheric environment-related substances, not limited to acid deposition, in light of the changing needs of the participating countries to address air pollution. This will enable EANET to cope with a broad range of issues affecting the atmospheric environment in East Asia.

(2) Adoption of the EANET Project Fund Guidelines

At the 22nd Session of Intergovernmental meeting of EANET (IG22) held last year, a consensus was reached to establish a project fund as a new mechanism for executing the budget for each project. At IG23, the guidelines for the management of this fund have been adopted, and it is expected to ensure the flexible and prompt implementation for upcoming projects in the future.

3. EANET 20th Anniversary and the Science & Policy Dialogue

To celebrate EANET's 20th anniversary, a commemorative event was held on November 26, 2021. Researchers, policy makers and delegates from international organizations participated in a panel discussion online, and the achievements of EANET activities over 20 years and its outlook for the future were introduced.

EANET's achievements over 20 years have been compiled in a booklet and posted in a digital form on EANET website: https://www.acap.asia/en/3462/

4. MOEJ's Future Involvement in EANET

MOEJ will continue to actively contribute to the discussion on the use of the new system of project-based budget execution and the activities after 2022 so that EANET can enhance and strengthen its activities as an important foundation for atmospheric environment administration in the East Asia region.

For Japanese