How Can Asia Manage Air Pollution and Climate Change? From Understanding Impacts to Implementing Solutions

The Ministry of the Environment of Japan (MOEJ) and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) organised an international workshop titled “How Can Asia Manage Air Pollution and Climate Change? From Understanding Impacts to Implementing Solutions”, with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) as a co-organiser, on 19 February 2019 in Tokyo.

In 2018, a high-profile United Nations report on the multiple benefits of clean air identified 25 solutions that could improve health and well-being in Asia, while also mitigating climate change and achieving other development priorities. At the same time, there have been several important advances in research on similar themes in Japan, China, Korea, and many other Asian countries. Research on the multiple benefits of managing air pollution and climate change could presumably inform policy for years to come. Nonetheless, there remain significant gaps between the research and actual experiences implementing solutions to air pollution and climate change problems. This workshop brought together internationally recognised experts from Japan, China, Korea, and Europe. They discussed how Asia can close the gap between understanding impacts and implementing solutions, based on presentations of recent research findings in addition to cases of policy implementation in Japan, China and Korea.