Program

To what extent has the growing attention for climate change resulted in integrated air pollution/ GHG emission inventories? What are the challenges in developing such integrated emission inventories?

Chairperson: May Ajero, Air Quality Program Manager, CAI-Asia Center
Venue: Queen’s Park 3

Particulate matter (PM) is in most of Asian cities the dominant pollutant. PM has received additional attention because of the new insights on the role of black carbon in global warming. What do we know about the sources of PM and black carbon in Asia?

Chairperson: Judith Chow, Research Professor, Desert Research Institute, Nevada, USA
Venue: Meeting Room B

Providing air quality data to the public coupled with appropriate education and outreach are important tools for reducing emissions and controlling air pollution and climate change. The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s partnership with Shanghai on the AIRNow-International system will be highlighted as a stand-alone air quality data management system that countries could use for data sharing, public notification and outreach.

Chairperson: Mike Co, Knowledge and Communications Manager, CAI-Asia Center
Venue: Saithip

Air pollution and climate change pose substantial current threats to food production biodiversity and forestry and are likely to intensify over the coming decades. This session will discuss reduce these risks. the causes, the impacts and possible adaptation measures to reduce these risks.

Chairperson: Frank Murray, Associate Professor, School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University
Venue: Bangkok Panorama 2

Assessing impacts on health entails the need to have an integrated assessment of the drivers of air pollution. This session will present the results of the integrated environmental strategies program of the US EPA.

Chairperson: Shannon Cowlin, Project Leader ,Strategic Energy Analysis Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory(NREL)
Venue: Meeting Room A

As policies for cleaner transport systems gain momentum in Asia, it is essential to propagate the idea of co-benefits, highlighting and quantifying the benefits of such interventions across various dimensions. This session serves this purpose.

Chairperson: Eric Zusman, Climate Policy Researcher, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)
Venue: Queen’s Park 2

Current high price of fuels and the dependence on oil as a long term energy source has encouraged countries to think of a co-benefits approach of linking reduction of emissions and fuel consumption. In this session, fuel efficiency measures to address climate change and air pollution issues are discussed.

Chairperson: Sanjivi Sundar, Theme Champion for Environment and Climate Change, Global Transport Knowledge Partnership and Distinguished Fellow, TERI
Venue: Queen's Park 1

There is a growing concern on the impacts of emissions from the shipping industry and from ports on urban air quality and climate change issues. This session will provide information on the extent of this sectors contribution towards the over-all emissions of air pollution and greenhouse gases and review new emerging policy approaches in the USA, Europe and Asia.

Chairperson: Mark Kasman, United States Environmental Protection Agency
Venue: Meeting Room 3 and 4

Air pollution in Asian countries is greatly influenced by a high percentage of old, pre-Euro 1, vehicles. Many of these vehicles which are either public transport modes or para-transit modes use diesel as the primary fuel. This session will provide information on how this situation can be addressed and how this can impact CO₂ emissions as well.

Chairperson: Charles Melhuish, Technical Director, Global Transport Knowledge Partnership (gTKP)
Venue: Bangkok Panorama 1

Bus Rapid Transit Systems and other Public transport improvements need to be marketed properly in order to gain public support and capture public imagination. In this session, making use of cases from Asia, Europe and Latin America, ways and means to package and market public transportation will be discussed.

Chairperson: Armin Wagner, Transport Policy Advisor, German Technical Cooperation (GTZ)
Venue: Queen’s Park 4

Stationary or point sources of air pollution are often significant GHG emitters. In order to be able to formulate integrated co-benefit strategies assessments need to be carried out which measure both air pollution and greenhouse gasses. This session will present and discuss examples of such integrated assessment tools.

Chairperson: Wijarn Simachaya, Director, Air Quality and Noise Management Bureau, Pollution Control Department, Thailand
Venue: Queen’s Park 6

Learn how programs are successfully scaling up the adoption of clean, affordable, efficient, and safe home cooking/heating practices that reduce people’s exposure to indoor air pollution, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve family health, economics and quality of life.

Chairperson: John Mitchell, Coordinator, Partnership for Clean Indoor Air, US EPA
Venue: Queen’s Park 5

Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and the Pollution Control Department will give an overview of past achievements in air quality management in Bangkok and Thailand and present future challenges in integrating air quality management with climate change mitigation.

Chairperson: Elisea Gozun, Chairperson of CAI-Asia Partnership
Venue: Queen’s Park 1, 2 and 3

South Asia - Chairperson: Jitendra Shah, Country Sector Coordinator, East Asia and the Pacific, World Bank
Queen's Park 2
East Asia - Chairperson: Jiming Hao, Dean, Tsinghua University, TBC
Queen's Park 3
Southeast Asia - Chairperson: Elisea Gozun, Chairperson, CAI-Asia Partnership
Queen's Park 1

Results of new studies on integrated regional and transboundary modelling studies will be presented and discussed.

Chairperson: Kevin Hicks, Research Associate, Stockholm Environment Institute, York, UK
Venue: Queen’s Park 6

The types and the degree of potential effects of particles depend on their chemical and physical properties. Black carbon normally carries with them a range of carcinogenic pollutants and is at the same time a strong climate forcing agent. The global warming potential of BC is found to be 2000 times of that of CO2, on the mass basis, for 20 years time span. This session will provide more information on the science of black carbon and how it impacts air quality and climate change.

Chairperson: Kim Oanh, Associate Professor and Coordinator, Environmental Engineering and Management Field of Study, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand
Venue: Queen’s Park 4

CAI-Asia encourages new thinking and approaches to deal with the problems of urban air pollution and climate change in Asia. So far, traditional approaches used in dealing with these problems have not produced enough results nor are seen to create significant impacts in the future. It is therefore important to consult with the next generation of air quality and climate changes policy makers, experts and managers. The 2008 Young Voices Awardees on Urban Air Pollution and Climate Change (the Young Voices) will present their papers.

Chairperson: TBD
Venue: Bangkok Panorama 1

This session will summarize key scientific contributions of the PAPA time series studies. Opportunities for scaling up (to include hospital admissions data) and replication (to other cities across Asia) will be discussed.

Chairperson: Dan Greenbaum, President, Health Effects Institute, USA
Venue: Queen’s Park 2

Few cities in Asia so far have developed integrated air quality management plans. Yet, several of ongoing air quality management strategies can be recast or retrofitted with a climate change component.

Chairperson: Warawut Suadee, Associate Professor, Faculty of Science and Technology, Thammasat University, Thailand
Venue: Queen’s Park 3

Rapid urbanization, economic growth, globalization and opening of markets have led to increased demand for personal mobility in India. The explosion in number of vehicles led to increased problems of emissions, congestion and safety. What holds the future for India?

Chairperson: Anumita Roychowdhury, Associate Director, Centre for Science and Environment, India
Venue: Queen’s Park 1

Preference for personal mobility in Asia has led to rapid growth of two-and three-wheelers in Asia. In several Asian cities more than 75% of vehicles are two and three wheelers. In this session, issues pertaining to 2-3 wheeler emissions, their integration in traffic and their future role will be explored.

Chairperson: Anne Lontoc, Undersecretary, Department of Transportation and Communications, Philippines
Venue: Saithip

Bio-fuels remain at the center of discussions on climate change. In the last year a controversy has emerged on the overall impact of especially first generation biofuels on GHG emissions because of their indirect land-use impacts. Also, the actual impact in terms of reduced emissions of air pollutants is also still being discussed.

Chairperson: Jeremy Weingart, Senior Biofuels Specialist, ECO-Asia Clean Development and Climate Program
Venue: Meeting Room A

Asian cities with their often unique land use structures are struggling to make cycling and walking attractive alternatives while at the same time motorized 2-3 wheelers remain as an important mode. Policies for both motorized and non-motorized transport will be presented and discussed.

Chairperson: Walter Hook, Executive Director, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy
Venue: Queen’s Park 4

Buildings are responsible for more than 50% of greenhouse gas emissions in most cities, and for more than 70% of emissions in mature cities such as New York and London. Retrofitting public and private buildings to incorporate more energy efficient products, technologies, and systems can significantly reduce energy use and pay for itself through energy cost savings.

Chairperson: Christopher Seeley, City Director - Bangkok & Regional Manager, Asia - Project Development, Clinton Climate Initiative - The William J. Clinton Foundation
Venue: Meeting Room 3 and 4

Increasing evidence shows that a considerable part of the GHG and air pollution emissions are linked to the outsourcing of production from the west to Asia. This session will review this trend and will assess the desirability and feasibility of international emission trading schemes to reduce air pollution and GHG emissions.

Chairperson: Masami Tsuji, Senior Environment Specialist, Asian Development Bank
Venue: Queen’s Park 5

The future of air quality in China and the future of global GHG scenarios will be heavily determined by the manner in which the energy sector in China will develop. This session reviews the latest information on energy scenarios for China and the trend towards integrated air pollution - energy efficiency and GHG reduction strategies.

Chairperson: Ivo Allegrini, Director, Italian Research Council, Institute for Atmospheric Pollution
Venue: Meeting Room B