World forum on air quality improvement to open in Seoul this week
Officials of global cities battling air pollution and environmental experts will gather in Seoul this week to discuss concerted efforts and measures to reduce fine dust particles, the Seoul government said Tuesday. The Seoul International Forum on Air Quality Improvement 2019 will take place at Seoul City Hall on Wednesday and Thursday under the theme “How to improve air quality with citizens,” the Seoul metropolitan government said. The forum will draw representatives of 35 cities in six Asian countries — South Korea, China, Japan, Mongolia, Vietnam and Singapore. Notably, as many as 16 Chinese cities will send their delegates to the Seoul forum, which was launched in 2010 and held under the title “Northeast Asia Forum on Air Quality Improvement” until last year, it said. The renaming of the conference has come as part of the Seoul government’s efforts to seek the cooperation of the entire world in the fight against fine dust pollution, it explained.
From South Korea, 17 institutions, including the Presidential Pan-National Joint Organization for Particle Pollution Control, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, South Jeolla Province and South Gyeongsang Province, will participate in the Seoul forum. Isabelle Louis, deputy director of the United Nations Environment Program’s Asia Pacific Regional Office, and Ahn Byung-ok, co-head of the Presidential Pan-National Joint Organization for Particle Pollution Control, will deliver keynote addresses Wednesday. On Thursday, Seoul and Beijing municipal officials will have a closed-door meeting to discuss measures to reduce fine dust particles in the traffic sector, including the control of diesel cars. Seoul also plans to expand cooperation with other Chinese cities and provinces, like Heilongjiang, Shenyang, and Yunnan, in its fight to reduce urban fine dust pollution.
(Yonhap)
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