Regional Resource Centre for the Asia and the Pacific

Events and Updates

Fifteenth Session of the Intergovernmental Meeting (IG15) of the Malé Declaration

16-Oct-2016- 16-Oct-2016
Colombo, Sri Lanka

The Fifteenth Session of the Intergovernmental Meeting (IG15) of the Malé Declaration on Control and Prevention of Air Pollution and its Likely Transboundary Effects for South Asia (Malé Declaration) was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 16 October 2016.  Representatives of the member counties, namely: Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka participated in the Session.

Experts from South Asia Cooperative Environment Programme (SACEP) and the Secretariat, the Regional Resource Centre for Asia and the Pacific (RRCAP) also attended the Session.

Mr. Osamu Mizuno, RRC.AP Director, delivered the Opening Remarks on behalf of the Secretariat. He stressed that the global environment now runs through the entire 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

He pointed out that that air pollution and climate change are not separate issues in the current scientific understanding and opportunity for co-benefits for air pollution and climate change in emission reduction policy, which is of particular importance in South Asia as well as in other developing regions around the globe.

Mr. Janaka Gunawardana, Director, Air Resource Management and Ozone Unit, Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment, Sri Lanka delivered the Welcome Remarks. He emphasized on the importance of the continuous air quality monitoring and expressed consideration on upcoming Phase VI that will support the network's reengineering and continuous operation.

Dr. Muhammad Khurshid, Director General, South Asia   Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP) also delivered Remarks during the meeting, reaffirming its support to the Malé Declaration.

The IG15 considered, discussed, and endorsed the following agenda: (1) Review on the progress of implementation of the Malé Declaration; (2) Consideration on the Draft Report of the Expert Group on Strengthening the Framework of Malé Declaration; (3) Consideration on the Plan for Phase VI of the Male' Declaration; and (4) Consideration on the Work Programme and Budget of Malé Declaration for 2017. The Session was facilitated by Mr. J. S. Kamyotra, the Regional Facilitator.

Created at 2/1/2017 5:00 PM by System Account
Last modified at 2/1/2017 5:00 PM by System Account