Le 4 October 2024The annual conference of the international research network " Impact of Black Carbon in South-East Asia "(IRN SOOT-SEA), co-organised by IRD and the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT). The event brought together 25 participants representing scientific institutions from France, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos.
The symposium began with a speech by Professor Pai-Chi Li, President of the AIT, underlining the importance of this meeting for assessing work on air pollution in the Greater Mekong Region. This research theme is at the heart of the activities of the SOOT-SEA consortium, which brings together international experts involved in the fight against air pollution. The regional workshop brought together members from institutions in France (Institut des géosciences de l'environnement (IGE)), Thailand (Environmental Engineering and Management Programme (EEM) and AIT's Centre for Links between Air Quality, Health, Ecosystems and Climate (AQNC), Environmental Science Research Centre of Chiang Mai University (ESRC-CMU)), Vietnam (Faculty of Engineering and Technology of the National University of Vietnam (VNU-UET), Faculty of Science of the National University of Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City (VNUHCM-US)) and Laos (Environmental Centre of Excellence of the National University of Laos (NUoL-CoEE)).
One of the major discussions at the conference focused on the prospects for collaboration under the SEACAI project (Integrated approaches to climate mitigation and air quality improvement in Southeast Asia), a joint regional initiative developed by IRD and GIZ. The project aims to adopt integrated approaches to climate change mitigation while improving air quality in Southeast Asia.
As well as strengthening scientific partnerships, the symposium also provided an opportunity to review the progress of ongoing studies and explore new collaborative strategies to meet the region's complex environmental challenges. The success of this meeting testifies to the scientific momentum around the environmental issues shared by the countries of the Greater Mekong region, and to the common desire to develop sustainable solutions to protect the environment and public health.
Contacts : Marc TedettiIRD researcher at the Mediterranean Institute of Oceanology (MIO) and coordinator of IRN SOOT-SEA
Gaëlle UzuIRD researcher at the Institute for Environmental Geosciences (IGE) and coordinator of the IRN SOOT-SEA project.