Newsletter

RRC.AP Attends the Asia Pacific Regional Environmental Data Knowledge Sharing, Capacity Strengthening and Strategic Pathways Workshop Bangkok, Thailand 22-25 July 2019 RRC.AP took part in the Asia Pacific Regional Environmental Data Knowledge Sharing, Capacity Strengthening and Strategic Pathways Workshop that was hosted by United Nations Environment Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific on 22-25 July 2019. RRC.AP's Director Naoya Tsukamoto served as one of the Panelists of the Workshop's session IV. The Panel of regional experts shared their knowledge, experience and perspectives on the challenges, opportunities, lessons learned / good or best practice innovative programs and initiatives for Strengthening National Level Environmental Data Sharing and Reporting in relation to Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), and the Role of International Development Partners. The aim of the workshop is to assess the current situation and status of environmental data availability, data systems management and environmental data sharing and reporting and to understand the systemic and institutional weaknesses and gaps that currently exist in the 5 project countries; Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Mongolia and Nepal.

RRC.AP took part in the 6th Green Mekong Forum that was hosted by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thailand and the Embassy of Japan on 8 July 2019. RRC.AP's Director Naoya Tsukamoto served as the moderator of the Forum's session IV that focuses on Water Resources Management. The Forum is an annual event in line with the Plan of Action "A Decade toward the Green Mekong" under Mekong - Japan Cooperation Framework, focusing on the exchange of views and best practices to promote a balanced approach towards economic development, environmental protection and sustainable growth, as well as addressing common challenges faced by Japan and the Mekong riparian countries including Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam. This year's Forum focused on 3 cross cutting issues namely: (1) Challenges and Approaches to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals -SDGs, (2) Marine Plastic Debris Management and (3) Water Resources Management.

Winston Chow of RRC.AP travelled to the Headquarters of the Green Climate Fund to attend the 23rd Meeting of the Board of the GCF on 6-8 July 2019. RRC.AP, representing the Asian Institute of Technology is accredited as an observer organization to the GCF. Earlier this year, the GCF Secretariat listed AIT as one of 28 organizations under a global network of climate change experts, through its Communities of Practice (CoP), to deliver knowledge in support of GCF activities. The recognition comes after the long-term effort of RRC.AP in building capacities for direct access to climate finance in the region since 2016. The RRC.AP is holding discussions with the GCF Secretariat with an aim to synergize activities to build capacities to access climate finance.

RRC.AP assisted the EANET Secretariat in organizing the "Awareness Forum on Prevention of Air Pollution in Asia Pacific" during 25 - 27 June 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand. The aim of the forum was to facilitate a sharing and learning platform across countries in solutions for tackling air pollution problems; to generate important inputs to potential contribution of regional and international initiatives in supporting countries in addressing air pollution; and to increase knowledge and understanding of among participants in managing air quality. The forum discussed understanding of pollution sources, mitigation measures, air quality monitoring, and evaluation of policies and regulations on air quality to measure its impacts. More than 130 participants from 16 countries, including representatives of government officials, civil society organizations, academicians, international organizations and private sectors, participated in the forum.

A side event on the HIMEK initiative [Black Carbon and Forest] was organized jointly by RRC.AP and IUCN during the Asia-Pacific Forestry Week (APFW2019) held in Incheon city of Republic of Korea during 17-21 June 2019. The purpose of the event was to communicate to global audience and policy makers who are dealing forest related issues about the impacts of black carbon particles on health and environment and how afforestation can help in removing black carbon particles from atmosphere. The event was also aimed to introduce the HIMEK initiative to global policy makers. AIT and IUCN jointly establishing an alliance "the HIMEK" which will be a regional cooperation framework between the Himalayan countries and the countries of the Mekong Region to promote efforts on emission reduction of Black Carbon particles and forest landscape restoration. The participants were researchers, scientists, representatives from intergovernmental organizations, non-government organizations and government policy makers. The event was highly successful.

RRC.AP spearheaded the celebration of World Environment Day with the theme of "#Beat Air Pollution" in Asian Institute of Technology on 5 June 2019. Activities started in the morning where participants within AIT planted trees. During the event, RRC.AP also planted a special tree commemorating the 30 years of its operation. Mid of the day, a talk on "Beating Air Pollution" was rendered by SERD-AIT faculty, Dr. Ekbordin Winijkul, impressing the need to be aware of causing air pollution and suggesting ways how to minimize, if not beat the causes of it. Finally, in the early hours of the evening a "Fun Run" was held within the vicinity of Asian Institute of Technology. Celebration was participated by about 200 people from different nationalities; faculty, students, staff and visitors of the institute.

RRC.AP convened a Third run of the two-day Downscaler Training Workshop on 3-4 June 2019 at the AIT Conference Centre. The Workshop brought 13 participants and observers from Cambodia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam as well as the Geoinformatics Centre of AIT. The workshop offered hands-on exercises focused on training participants to engage with the downscaling assessment system called S8 Si-CAT Downscaler, developed by the University of Tsukuba, in order to make local climate change projections and assessments.

The workshop aimed to enhance the understanding of current and future climate conditions at the local level, induced by both global warming and land use policies and plans, and to develop participants' skills for utilizing the S8 SI-CAT Downscaler. The workshop also included a presentation by the Ministry of Environment, Japan on the Asia Pacific Adaptation Information Platform (AP-PLAT)

Two representatives from the University of Tsukuba and the Center for Environmental Science in Saitama led the practical sessions and gave participants the opportunity to provide direct feedback to the developers of the downscaler. Participants were also invited to conduct their own climate simulations after the training, under the coordination of the RRC.AP.

Based on self-assessments, participants demonstrated significant knowledge increases on Global Climate Models and projections, grid-based climate data, dynamical vs. statistical downscaling methods. Overall, participants demonstrated to have an understanding of the relevance of downscaled data in assessments, planning, and the overall activities for climate change-related work

Ms. Megha Bajaj joined the Air and Atmospheric Pollution Cluster at RRC.AP as an intern from 14 May to 13 July 2019. The focus of her work will be in the Analysis of Air Pollution Data and will assist in organizing workshops. She possesses broad experience in communications and secretariat work as a volunteer. She is currently pursuing her Master's degree in Natural Resources Management at the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand.