phuketrichard wrote: ↑Fri Mar 10, 2023 7:00 pm Glad i'm down South

Satellite map of Southeast Asia clearing showing who is causing the worst pollution due to open fires. Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia are the worst with Thailand not far behind them.

Southern Thailand, Northern Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia are all looking good.




He doesn’t mention the large scale agro businesses and animal farmers that donate to his party and are at the end of the supply chain.

Can we get a detailed breakdown of the pollution red dots. What percentage is caused by Nicotine, THC and burning plastic rubbish with leaves and grass.

Air Quality Improvement Program: 1st Project Steering Committee Meeting

Siem Reap, Cambodia – September 7, 2023
The first Project Steering Committee (PSC) meeting and Sub-Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting under the AFD-funded Air Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) took place in Siem Reap province. Chaired by H.E. Pak Sokharavuth, Under Secretary of State, Ministry of Environment, the meeting was attended by 7 PSC members and 11 TWG members from the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Siem Reap Municipality, Apsara Authority and GGGI.

H.E. Pak Sokharavuth opened the meeting and expressed his gratitude for moving forward on such an important topic in Cambodia. In his opening remark, the Under-Secretary of State of Ministry of Environment, said, “Cambodia, with her burgeoning urban centers and rapidly expanding industrial sectors as well as the increase of vehicle running on the road every, is not immune to the global challenge of degradation air quality. As we forge ahead with development, it is our moral and ethical responsibility to safeguard the environment and public health”.

Ms. Shomi Kim, GGGI Cambodia Country Representative, gave introductory remarks, which was followed by welcome remarks from Mr. Emmanuel DOLLFUS, AFD Deputy Country Director. Both stressed the need to focus on building the infrastructure required, in-terms of strengthening air quality monitoring stations and creating emissions inventories, in addition to developing policies, to determine the right interventions required to transition the transport sector to achieve clean air.
Ms. Shomi Kim, said that the transportation sector has emerged as a major contributor to air pollution in Cambodia together with emissions from industry and waste, releasing harmful pollutants such as particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the atmosphere. She continued, “On the other hand, the penetration rate of the electric vehicle remains less than 0.1% of the registered vehicles in Cambodia. Recognizing the urgency of this situation, I would like to stress how this project is conceived and developed to ensure the improvement of air quality through introduction of cleaner transportation”.

Since the launch of the Air Quality Improvement Project (AQIP) in May 2023, GGGI, in collaboration with the MOE and MPWT, is working on supporting policy development related to air quality, including both local air pollutants and greenhouse gases, as well as proposing governance framework in Siem Reap on public electric vehicle operation and management and Angkor low carbon strategy and investment plan.

The participants discussed and commented on the progress made since the inception phase. These included feedback and comments made on all five outputs designed under the project. H.E. Pak Sokharavuth, concluded the meeting by thanking all for their active participation. The PSC and TWG members appreciated the project outcomes achieved since the inception phase and provided valuable feedback to guide ongoing and planned activities in the following months.

The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) developed the AQIP back in 2020, which is a part of the regional program for Air Quality Improvement in Southeast Asia. Under this project, AFD aims to support partner countries and cities in their efforts to develop and implement policies and projects to improve air quality.
https://gggi.org/air-quality-improvemen ... e-meeting/

I would have to say there's zero progress. Judging by the way Asian men and increasingly, women, need Range Rovers and huge Ford trucks, etc, etc, those in charge really don't care. It's all lip service, and zero action ...

Phnom Penh is extraordinarily filthy, the air is dusty and smells bad all the time.

The first thing they should, and could easily do, would be to outlaw the ubiquitous charcoal grills that choke the city air day and night.

Even Bogota, Colombia, also a poor urban center with very low salaries, has gas pipelines feeding stoves to every urban household.

Asia remains backwards and recalcitrant, there is absolutely no progress towards improving air quality, or even to clean up the filthy dusty roadways. They are too lazy, corrupt and stupid to clean up the city streets and roads all over Cambodia. It's like they don't even notice the dirt and dust.

Phnom Penh is definitely the last place in Asia besides Beijing, Bangkok and Jakarta that you would want to raise your kids.

orichá wrote: ↑Sat Sep 16, 2023 2:24 pm I would have to say there's zero progress. Judging by the way Asian men and increasingly, women, need Range Rovers and huge Ford trucks, etc, etc, those in charge really don't care. It's all lip service, and zero action ...

Phnom Penh is extraordinarily filthy, the air is dusty and smells bad all the time.

The first thing they should, and could easily do, would be to outlaw the ubiquitous charcoal grills that choke the city air day and night.

Even Bogota, Colombia, also a poor urban center with very low salaries, has gas pipelines feeding stoves to every urban household.

Asia remains backwards and recalcitrant, there is absolutely no progress towards improving air quality, or even to clean up the filthy dusty roadways. They are too lazy, corrupt and stupid to clean up the city streets and roads all over Cambodia. It's like they don't even notice the dirt and dust.

Phnom Penh is definitely the last place in Asia besides Beijing, Bangkok and Jakarta that you would want to raise your kids.

Just a tad exaggerated... If you don't like it then leave

OPINION, October 11, 2023
No end to haze unless a transboundary pact is implemented
Mohd Noor Musa /
[excerpts]
Previous data and satellite images of peatland fires, illegal logging, and deforestation induced by land clearing efforts in rural and agricultural areas of Kalimantan, Sumatra, and Riau in Indonesia, by local and international agribusinesses remain the leading cause of haze in this region.

At its worst, when environmental conditions, such as El Nino, delay the onset of the rainy season, smoke from peatland fires and land-clearing activities continue to intensify.

Besides the grave threat to health, especially to those suffering from chronic conditions and the vulnerable, exposure to haze harms living resources, fragile ecosystems, and property, leading to violations of the fundamental human right to life and health and considerable financial loss to governments.

Solutions to the annual toxic haze have been discussed among ASEAN member states for decades. The severe fog in 1997 and 1998 accelerated this process and led to the signing of the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (ATHP) in 2002 by member states in Kuala Lumpur.

The ATHP, the first regional proposal in the world, aimed to mitigate and prevent haze pollution through concentrated nationwide efforts and sought to increase regional and worldwide cooperation. Its implementation requires, among others, that each member state enact appropriate domestic legislation.

Though Malaysia was the first country to have ratified the ATHP in 2002, until today, it has yet to enact its domestic Transboundary Haze Pollution Act. Indonesia, on the other hand, only ratified ATHP in September 2014. Until today, transboundary haze still recurs without a permanent solution.

Weak mechanisms in settling disputes and non-compliance are further compounded by the agreement’s obligatory provisions that do not specify any legitimate sanctions for non-compliance, nor has ASEAN constituted as an operative enforcement organisation.

ASEAN should reassess how to apply the principle of non-intrusion and resilient reaction to be adopted. Malaysia and other affected member countries should work together to resolve this problem, understanding the immense economic and public health damage the haze has caused and will continue to drive.
The writer is Research Analyst, Institut Masa Depan Malaysia. First published in The New Straits Times