UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE

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CONVENTION ON LONG-RANGE TRANSBOUNDARY AIR
POLLUTION
First meeting of the Task Force on Hemispheric
Transport of Air Pollution Brussels, 1 3 June
2005
Harald Dovland Chairman, Executive Body CLRTAP
UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE
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TASK FORCE ON HEMISPHERIC TRANSPORT

• In the 1950s we were concerned about very local,
  urban problems London, Meuse Valley
• In the 1970s we lifted our sights and became
  aware of regional problems of acidification and
  photochemical ozone Europe, USA/Canada
• Both of these latter problems required some
  ground-breaking science to establish the fact
  that pollution problems could exist on these
  scales

UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE
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TASK FORCE ON HEMISPHERIC TRANSPORT

• We have now begun to look even further across
  the whole northern hemisphere, even the globe
• But we are still at the position of
  establishing the scientific basis of the problem
• The Task Force is thus a scientific body
• But it will address questions that are
  ultimately relevant to policy makers

UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE
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TASK FORCE ON HEMISPHERIC TRANSPORT

• The UNECE/CLRTAP has a history of developing a
  sound scientific base to policy development and
  thus provides a very appropriate framework for
  this new Task Force

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CONVENTION ON LONG-RANGE TRANSBOUNDARY AIR
POLLUTION 49 Parties in Europe, North America and
Central Asia
THE CONVENTION ON LONG-RANGE TRANSBOUNDARY AIR
POLLUTION 49 Parties in Europe, North America and
Central Asia
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TASK FORCE ON HEMISPHERIC TRANSPORT

• The scientific issues are complex, but the
  questions will be answered
• What are the next steps? We need to be planning
  for this now