The Regional Resource Centre for Asia and the Pacific at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT RRC.AP), in collaboration with the South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP), successfully organized the 3^rdWebinar in the Malé Declaration Webinar Series titled “Air Quality Management: Science and Investment for Sustainable Development in Malé Declaration Member Countries” on 25 May 2026. The webinar was held under the topic “Long-range Transport of Air Pollution and How to Build Capacity on Air Quality Modeling and Forecasting.”

It focused on the importance of air quality modeling and forecasting in understanding long-range and transboundary transport of air pollution. It also highlighted how modeling can help link emissions from sources to receptors, support policy scenarios, and strengthen evidence-based air quality management in the Malé Declaration region. A total of 116 participants joined the webinar, including 74 male and 42 female participants, from academia, government agencies, international organizations, NGOs and civil society organizations, the private sector, students, and other organizations. Participants joined from South and Southeast Asia, East Asia, Australia, Qatar, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States.

Opening

Dr.Vanisa Surapipith, Head of Air Pollution Cluster at AIT RRC.AP, welcomed the speakers and participants. She reminded that Malé Declaration was adopted in 1998 at the 7th Governing Council of SACEP, held in Malé, following a round-table policy dialogue held by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) at AIT. It was also highlighted that air quality modeling is an important tool to link emissions from sources to receptors, assess transboundary transport, and provide a regional perspective for policy scenarios and decision-making.

Presentations Session

Three experts presented advanced tools and methodologies for air quality management:

• The first presentation was delivered by Dr.Bhupesh Adhikary, Policy Lead, Environment and Climate Change, Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS), Nepal, on “Development of Modelling Capacity in the Indo-Gangetic Plain and Himalayan Foothill (IGP-HF).” In his presentation, he highlighted that despite severe PM2.5 pollution, regional research remains limited to observational data rather than advanced modeling. Bridging this gap requires an interdisciplinary approach, yet progress is currently hindered by critical deficiencies, including a lack of dedicated centers, regulatory frameworks, skilled personnel, and South-South cooperation. Dr.Adhikary emphasized that while cutting-edge technological solutions like AI and satellite data assimilation exist globally, governments must establish clear policy frameworks and institutional demand to transform these models from academic concepts into practical tools for environmental mitigation and decision-making.
• The second presentation was delivered by Dr.Gaurav Govardhan from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, on behalf of Dr.Sachin Ghude, on “Development of Air Quality Modelling and Forecasting for New Delhi, India.” He presented the operational Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) developed at IITM Pune for New Delhi and South Asia. The system provides forecasts at different scales, including 10 km for India/South Asia and 400 m for Delhi for the next three days. He highlighted the importance of chemical data assimilation using satellite data, surface measurements, and fire activities, as well as the use of high-resolution emission inventories. Dr. Govardhan explained that AQEWS performs well for most air quality categories, but further improvement is needed for extreme pollution events, especially when AQI is above 400. He also discussed recent model developments, including ensemble-based probabilistic forecasting, improved representation of Secondary Organic Aerosols, and the inclusion of urban morphology to better capture PM2.5 peaks during critical events. He emphasized that air quality forecasting is not only a scientific tool but also supports policy decisions through decision-support systems that estimate contributions from different districts and sectors.
• The third presentation was delivered by Prof. Prabir K. Patra, Visiting Professor at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto, and Principal Scientist at JAMSTEC, Japan, on the Aakash Project and its modeling work on particulate air pollution and sustainable agriculture in Northwest India. He explained that the Aakash Project carried out continuous measurements at 30 sites in Northwest India during September - November from 2022 to 2024. The project also established the capability to distribute observed and model data in near real time to support policymaking. Prof. Patra highlighted that surface observations showed very high PM2.5 concentrations in Punjab during the crop residue burning period, especially at night. He noted that satellite fire hotspot data may not always reflect the actual pollution measured at the surface. Based on model comparisons and three independent model studies, he emphasized that crop residue burning has a weak role in Delhi-NCR PM2.5 concentration compared with local emissions. He stressed that Delhi-NCR's high PM2.5 is primarily due to local emissions, and that stronger observations and process-based modeling are needed to support realistic, evidence-based policy decisions.