KUCHING, August 15: Roughly 1,000 experts and scientific researchers from 50 countries are expected to attend the ’10th Better Air Quality Conference (BAQ)’ here this November to discuss transformative action and technological innovation for clean air.
This is the first time Malaysia is hosting this biennial event, which will be held at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) from Nov 14-16.
Natural Resources and Environmental Board (NREB) Controller of Environmental Quality Peter Sawal said the conference would enhance the state and country’s commitment to creating a cleaner environment.
“We are confident this event will attract many interested participants from all over the globe,” he said when announcing the conference at BCCK today. Also present were Clean Air Asia deputy executive director Glynda Bathan and Clean Air Forum Society of Malaysia vice-president Dr Juliana Jallaludin.
This conference is considered Asia’s leading event on air quality, and it is jointly organised by Clean Air Asia, Clean Air Forum Society of Malaysia, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and Sarawak NREB.
Themed ‘Regional Action, Global Impact’, the conference will focus on transformative action and technological innovation in Asia for clean air and liveable cities, the pivotal role of Asia in these efforts, as well as contributing to meet international goals.
Bathan said air pollution was now recognised as a global public health crisis, linked to millions of premature deaths annually, and its challenges underscored the need for unity and collaboration to develop new solutions and approaches for a more sustainable future.
“Technological innovation plays a key role to reduce air pollution. Corporate sectors can also play an important role to contribute and make significant gains to reduce air pollution using technology advancement.
“There are many ways we can incorporate innovation as well as policy review to address this issue and improve our air quality,” she said, adding that the high-level government meetings, workshops and panel discussions during the event were expected to bring together key representatives from environment, health and energy ministries from Asia and international organisations.
The conference would feature plenary sessions, forums and breakout sessions. There would also be dialogues on a wide range of topics such as air quality and climate change, clean energy and better air quality, and also city solutions for clean air.
In addition to the conference sessions, there will also be workshops, side events and programme launches, social events, technical tours and site visits. Pre-events to BAQ 2018 will take place from Nov 12-13.
Meanwhile, Juliana said renowned speakers like Prof Peter Brimblecombe from Australia were expected to attend.
For more information on BAQ 2018, visit www.baq2018.org or email info@baq2018.org. — DayakDaily
