Strategy for scientific bodies under the Convention
The Strategy for scientific bodies under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution was adopted by the Executive Body in 2022 (Decision 2022/3) to better serve the work under the Convention.
In order to complete their mission, the science bodies of the Convention seek to develop, maintain and implement methods and tools that support the achievement of goals in the following areas:
(a) Science: to establish sound scientific evidence and provide guidance to underpin, develop and evaluate environmental policies;
(b) Partnership: to foster international partnerships to find solutions to environmental problems;
(c) Openness: to encourage the open use of intellectual resources and products;
(d) Sharing: to share information and expertise with research programmes, expert institutions, national and international organizations and environmental agreements;
(e) Integration: to integrate information on emissions, environmental quality, effects and abatement options, and to provide the basis for solutions;
(f) Leadership: to support the Convention in providing leadership in environmental policymaking at the national, pan-European and global levels.
The EMEP Monitoring Strategy 2020-2029
The EMEP Monitoring Strategy 2020-2029 was developed by the EMEP centers in close cooperation with the Parties through the Task Force on Measurements and Modelling. The Executive Body approved the document in December 2019 (Decision 2019/1). The monitoring strategy for 2020–2029 consolidates the established approaches and aspirations for monitoring activities in order to provide consistent and adequate observational data supporting the EMEP objectives. Furthermore, it introduces some minor changes to the specific requirements in order to meet the needs of EMEP for the coming decade.
Fundamental objectives of EMEP monitoring are to ensure:
(a) Adequate ongoing long-term monitoring of concentrations and deposition fluxes to assess exposure and impacts on health, ecosystems, vegetation, materials and climate;
(b) Adequate spatial coverage in the geographical domain of EMEP and improved access to information from areas that have been insufficiently covered up to now;
(c) Sufficient temporal resolution to enable investigation of atmospheric processes driving transport and transformation of pollution, to guide model improvements and to enable the analysis of individual pollution events;
(d) Co-located and concurrent monitoring of the relevant atmospheric variables, the adoption and use of standardized methodologies, and adequate quality assurance procedures;
(e) A level of ambition that is affordable for all Parties, while also taking advantage of scientific developments and emerging capabilities.