While emissions of key air pollutants have been reduced considerably over the past few decades as a result of integrated air pollution management strategies developed under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (Air Convention), progress has been uneven across the UNECE region. In particular in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, due to the increase in energy production, industry growth and urban development, further efforts are needed. To assist countries in the subregion to improve their air quality management, UNECE has organized a number of activities in the framework of the Air Convention assistance programme.
To encourage ratification of the Convention’s key protocols by Kyrgyzstan, UNECE organized a round table in Bishkek on 12 April to present and discuss the results of the analysis of the national legislation on air quality management and the recommendations on the steps towards ratification. Representatives of the State Agency on Environment Protection and Forestry, several ministries, as well as companies participated in the discussion.
It was agreed that the ratification of the Protocol on Heavy Metals and the Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants was feasible within the framework of the current legislation. Kyrgyzstan was also encouraged to ratify the Protocol on Long-term Financing of the Cooperative Programme for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Long-range Transmission of Air Pollutants in Europe. The ratifications are important to make the Convention more effective in reducing air pollution both in Kyrgyzstan and regionally.
Further to the round table, UNECE organized a workshop to support Kyrgyzstan in improving its air pollutant emission inventories in accordance with the Convention’s requirements (Bishkek, 13–15 April 2016). The workshop focused on the practical work with the country’s national data in relation to its priority activity sectors.
Progress in improving air quality in all 56 UNECE members States will be reviewed at the Eighth Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference in Batumi, Georgia, in June 2016.
For more information on capacity-building under the UNECE Air Convention, please visit: http://www.unece.org/environmental-policy/conventions/envlrtapwelcome/capacity-building.html.