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UNU e-Newsletter Issue 18. October 2006 Joint Workshop on
Environmental Monitoring of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in East Asian Countries (hosted by the Japanese Government)
and UNEP/GEF Project on Assessment of the Existing Capacity and Capacity
Building Needs to Analyze POPs in Developing
Countries (20-22 September, 2006, Kyoto, Japan) This
joint workshop was held with 54 experts and government officials representing
various countries, Sweden, Netherlands, Kenya, China, Fiji, Viet Nam,
Moldova, Ecuador, Uruguay, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, The
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Canada, Japan, Lao PDR, Cambodia,
Indonesia, UNEP, UNEP NOWPAP, UNU, and consultants in this field. The
workshop on Environmental Monitoring of POPs in
East Asian Countries had two groups on Policy and Expert Working groups
discussing air monitoring activities funded by the Ministry of Environment of
Japan. These air monitoring data are designed to serve for the effectiveness
evaluation of the Stockholm Convention in 2008. The other two designated
samples for the evaluation are human breast milk and human blood. Currently,
the Stockholm Convention is in search of existing POPs
monitoring activities on these samples. The 1st Workshop on
Reduction of Unintentional POPs in East Asian
Countries (25&26 September, 2006, Kyoto, Japan) hosted by the Ministry of
Japan This
meeting was held following the above joint workshop. The two-day workshop
started with a plenary session chaired by Dr. Masatoshi Morita (UNU/ESD
programme advisor). Each participating country shared the recent inventory
and the latest policies on reduction of the unintentional POPs
(Hexachlorobenzene, PCB, and PCDD/Fs). Some
countries used UNEP Chemical’s toolkit to estimate the unintentional POPs emission for their inventories. Dr. Heidelore Fiedler (UNEP Chemicals) explained that the
deadline of the first inventories is 31 December 2006. The three sessions
discussed the strategies and resources available to reduce the unintentional POPs in the East Asia Countries. The participating
countries are Malaysia, Mongolia, Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia, Republic of
Korea, Viet Nam, Canada, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Japan, and
the USA. The 4th International
Conference on Combustion,Incineration/Pyrolysis and
Emission Control (26-29 September, 2006, Kyoto, Japan) This
Conference has been convened to address the following concern, “the stringent
requirements of mandatory emission controls and deep concerns from civil
sectors have necessitated the development of advanced technologies and
facility modifications.” More than 240 academic, industrial, and governmental
participants exchanged their research results and views on waste management
policies. Dr. Fukuya Iino, Academic Programme
Officer of UNU, presented his views on a larger gap between international
mandates and developing countries’ capacities by citing the Philippine Clean
Air Act (REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8749) which came into force in 1999. Municipal
waste incinerators have been banned since then. Many other developing
countries have established 0.1 ng-TEQ/Nm3 of PCDD/Fs as the
emission regulation criteria for new incinerators, which is the same regulation
standard adopted by developed countries. Meeting this standard requires
robust facilities including efficient air pollution control devices and
experienced operators. The next conference will be held in Thailand in 2008. This
newsletter is a quarterly bulletin made possible with the support of
Shimadzu, Japan |
