Air Quality Control

Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Seminar on Capacity Building on Air Pollution Prevention and Control

22-23 October 2013Beijing, China

Young-woo ParkRegional Director and Representative for Asia and the Pacific

United Nations Environment ProgrammeBangkok

Major Air Pollutants• Carbon di oxide( CO2) : leads to global warming• SOx• NOx• CO• Hydro Carbon (HC)• Lead• Particulate Matter

Common Sources of Air Pollution• Common sources of air pollution are industrial and domestic stationary

sources, mobile sources, marine emissions, solid-waste burning, rural area sources, and terrestrial and transport sourcesSource of Air Pollution Examples / Components

Industrial Power plants and boilers; CO2, SOx, NOx, Particulate matter

Domestic Fuel used for cooking , heating etc; CO2, SOx, NOx, Particulate matter

Marine Burning of furnace oil; PM, SOx, HC

Solid Waste burning Open field solid waste burning

Rural Area Fuel used for domestic purposes, open field burning of agriculture waste

Terrestrial and Transport Vehicles using fuel and terrestrial sources like dust storms etc.

BURNING OF FOSSIL FUELS IS THE MAJOR SOURCE OF AIR POLLUTION

World : Exposure to particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 10 um or less (PM10) in 1100 urban areas, 2003–2010

World : Population using solid fuels (%), 2010: total

Major Causes of Air Pollution

• Large scale urbanization – unplanned growth of cities• Increase in industrialization• Rapid change in land use ; deforestation etc• Poor transport planning – increase in use of personal

mode of transportation• Subsidies on energy sources• Perpetuation of old and inefficient technologies• Lack of cost internalization• Lack of market pressure

Constrains for Asian Countries

• Access to clean technology - TECHNOLOGY• Loose or no standards and regulatory

mechanisms - POLICY• Poor monitoring and enforcement• Lack of long term vision and planning• Low capacity of institutions to tackle the issue,

need for a holistic approach- CAPACITY• Financial capacity to bring in immediate change

Co-benefits of Action on air pollution

• Improved Health• Reduced global warming – mitigating climate

change• Leads to energy security• Higher crop yields

Interventions required

• Supporting countries to develop policies and targeted technological interventions

• Development of regional standards and protocols • Creating framework for access to clean

technologies• Institutional capacity building• Programs targeting – freight movements, clean

fuels, vehicle standards etc.• Awareness raising

UNEP facilitated intergovernmental networks

Asia-Pacific • East and Southeast Asia- Acid Deposition Monitoring

Network in East Asia (EANET) (UNEP Secretariat) • South Asia- Malé Declaration on Air Pollution (UNEP

Secretariat) • Southeast Asia- Treaty on the control of haze pollution from

forest clearance (UNEP facilitated) • Central Asia- Environmental treaty considering air pollution

as a major issue (UNEP facilitated) • Asian-Pacific- Network of networks on atmospheric

Environmental Issues (UNEP Secretariat)

Other related UNEP Work

• Secretariat of Climate and clean air collation• Global Fuel Economy Initiative (GFEI)• data development and analysis of fuel economy potentials,

support for national, regional awareness and policy making efforts

• The Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles (PCFV)• access information to organizations & networks, workshops

on clean fleet management to support efficient vehicles policies

• Thank You