1. The Eleventh Meeting of the Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee on Transboundary Haze Pollution in the Mekong Sub-Region (11th MSC Mekong) was held on 30 November 2022 through Video Conference hosted by Thailand. The Meeting was opened by H.E. Varawut Silpa-archa, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Thailand. The Meeting was attended by Ministers, officials and/or representatives for land, forest fires and haze from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam, and the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, under the Chairpersonship of Mr. Thalearngsak Petchsuwan, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Thailand. The Seventeenth Meeting of the Technical Working Group on Transboundary Haze Pollution in the Mekong Sub-Region (17th TWG Mekong) preceded the Meeting.
2. The Meeting noted the review and outlook of weather and smoke haze situation in the Mekong sub-region presented by the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC). The Mekong sub-region’s dry season in 2021/2022 lasted from December 2021 to May 2022. Alert Level 3 was issued for the sub-region on 11 Apr 2022. The overall hotspot count for the sub-region was around 24% lower in 2022 compared to 2021 between the period January and November. The upcoming dry season for the Mekong sub-region is expected to start in end 2022. While existing La Niña conditions are forecast to continue till the end of 2022 and weaken in early 2023, persistent dry conditions are still expected. The Meeting noted ASMC’s ongoing efforts in advancing its remote sensing capabilities and haze dispersion modelling to support fires/haze monitoring, assessment and early warning. As part of the five-year ASMC Capability-Building Programme (ACaP), close to 700 participants had attended its 24 training courses and technical fora. ACaP will be extended for another five years until 2027 with new activities to complement existing workshops such as an attachment programme at ASMC for training in operational areas as well as research collaborations.
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