Improving air quality and climate protection in Mekong riparian states

Context

With a population of more than 320 million, the Mekong region, comprising Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Viet Nam, is regularly affected by large-scale transboundary air pollution. This is due to slash-and-burn clearing during the dry season in agriculture and forestry. The air pollution associated with this practice poses a risk to human health, the climate, agricultural yields and, as a result, to national economies in the region too.

There is therefore a need for measures that promote regional coordination of political, regulatory and technical approaches to air pollution control and climate protection.

Objective

Air quality and climate protection has improved in the Mekong riparian states thanks to transboundary coordination of political, regulatory and technical approaches to cutting the emissions of climate-impacting air pollutants.

Approach

The project supports integrated approaches for improving air quality while at the same time protecting the climate. With this aim in mind, it works primarily in three priority areas of action.

• It improves the technical capacities of national and local authorities responsible for managing climate-impacting air pollutants in Mekong riparian states.
• The project trials effective and scalable measures designed to prevent the burning of biomass or solid materials in agriculture, forestry and waste management, and involves the authorities, the private sector as well as the civil population in Laos, Cambodia and Thailand in these measures.
• It supports improved coordination between regional air quality programmes of different international organisations. These include the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Last update: October 2024