Policy solutions to abate air pollutant emissions need to be targeted to the main emission sources in a given country. To know where exactly the emissions are coming from is therefore the first step in designing a viable air quality management system.

The UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (Air Convention) has promoted integrated air quality management strategies for over 40 years, which has resulted in improved air quality in the region over the past few decades. However, progress has also been uneven as the increase in energy production, industrial growth and urban development has raised emissions in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Under the Air Convention, UNECE has therefore been assisting countries in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia to develop better emission inventories with a view to facilitating their ratification and implementation of the Air Convention and its key protocols. Following a series of in-country workshops in several countries in the subregion in the last 5 years, workshops this year are being held online as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new format of the workshop was piloted with experts from the Republic of Moldova last week (6 November 2020). The workshop gave an introduction to requirements and emission reporting guidelines under the Convention and instructions on using templates. Participants also discussed the existing data set, challenges in data collection, and how to fill in data gaps.

Practical work with national data sets will take place in a second part of the workshop that will be held in 2021.

For more information on capacity-building under the UNECE Air Convention, please visit: http://www.unece.org/environmental-policy/conventions/envlrtapwelcome/capacity-building.html.