KUCHING: The 10th Better Air Quality (BAQ) Conference 2018, a biennial event will be held from 14 to 16 November 2018 at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here.
The conference is jointly organised by Clean Air Asia, Clean Air Forum Society of Malaysia (MyCAS), Malaysia’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and the Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB) Sarawak. Speaking during a press conference on the event at BCCK yesterday, Controller of NREB Sarawak Peter Sawal said that the conference is expecting over 300 participants from all over the world.
“It is timely for Kuching to be the venue of this conference as it shall help to further strengthen Sarawak’s and Malaysia’s commitments towards a cleaner environment,” he said. He added that during the conference, the issues that will be discussed would not only concern the locals but also internationally, especially in air quality concern.
“Air pollution not only affects our lives but also the businesses, economics and social activities of our community,” he said. Meanwhile, the Deputy Executive Director of Clean Air Asia Glynda Bathan said, “Air pollution is a very important challenge for the world and also in regions where a great number of deaths and illnesses are caused by air pollution.”
She added that more than 30 international and regional organisations such as World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Union of Air Pollution prevention association would be coming together to discuss the solutions for Asia to address air pollution.
“There will be various dialogue sessions on how cities can manage air pollution as it is important to start up an air quality monitoring area to reduce air pollution from transportation, industry and power generation.
“We will also have more than 30 environment industry officials coming to the governmental meeting on urban air quality to discuss steps and policies that will reduce pollution from all major source,” she pointed out.
In addition to the dialogue sessions, there will also be workshops, side events and programme launches, social events, technical tours and site visits as well as meet-ups around Kuching to engage both the conference and non-conference participants alike. For more information on BAQ 2018, visit www.baq2018.org or email info@baq2018.org.
