Islamabad : A webinar was held on the topic, “Air Quality under South-South Cooperation: What Works for Developing Countries, through the Lens of Science, Technology and Governance?” jointly organized by COMSATS Centre for Climate and Sustainability (CCCS) in the partnership of Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) today at Islamabad with the aim to elucidate newer efforts to increase awareness, foster connectivity and implement solutions in developing countries on air pollution and work with partners in the Global South to chart the way forward for this decade. This webinar was 9th webinar of CCCS Webinars Series.
Webinar initiated with the welcome remarks of Amb. Shahid Kamal, Head CCCS, he talked about importance of Air Quality research for policy formulation, followed by message of Dr. Raheel Qamar, Head of Science and Technology, ICESCO. Webinar was moderated by Hassan Sipra, Senior Research Officer, COMSATS University Islamabad.
Participants in the webinar include: Dr. Johann Antoine, Head of the Nuclear Analytical Lab and Project Lead for Air Quality Programme, Jamaica, Dr. Eric Zusman, Senior Policy Researcher, and Institute for Global Environmental Studies (IGES) in Hayama, Japan, Dr. Hassan Kchih, Head of Air Monitoring Section Environmental Protection and Control Department (EPCD) Royal Commission Jubail and Yanbu, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Professor Jalal Halwani, Head of Health & Environment Department, Director of Water & Environment Lab, Lebanon, Dr. Foued El Ayni, Environmental Expert at Directorate of Science & Technology of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), Morroco , Dr. Jacob Sonibare, Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, Mr. Abid Omar, Founder of Air Quality Initiative, Pakistan., Professer Gabriel Filippelli, Professor of Earth Sciences, Director, Center for Urban Health, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, U.S.A.
Scientists from different regions of world talked about crises of poor air quality and health issues especially in global south countries. They emphasized on health issues mediated from poor air quality. To achieve Sustainable Development Goals, clean air plays very important role in the context of, SDG 3 Good Health, SDG 7 Clean Energy, SDG11 Sustainable Cites and SDG13 Climate Action.
Scientists talked about research in the area of air monitoring, developing countries and even developed world are lacking research in this area. Scientific and evidence-based knowledge is very important for policy formulation. Experts showed interest to conduct collaborative research projects with CCCS Network institutions