Page 18 - Çevre Şehir ve İklim Dergisi İngilizce - Özel Sayı

Breath: the Source of Life
“Air Quality Modelling Applications”

2.1. International Cooperation in Air Quality Management

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe signed the
“Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution-CLRTAP” in 1979
recognizing that regional cooperation is necessary due to the transboundary
nature of air pollution.
The main bodies of the Convention consist of the executive body, steering
body to EMEP, working group on effects, working group on strategies and
review, and the implementation committee. There are also scientific task forces
and expert groups under the umbrella of CLRTAP. These bodies carry out
studies on the environmental effects of air pollution, atmospheric distribution,
transfers between countries, emission control technologies, and economic
evaluation methodologies every year. In addition, a database is created from
the official reporting of countries’ emission inventory, emission distributions
and data from air quality measurement stations and is used for air quality and
integrated impact assessment models.
Scientific studies are actively used in the policy-making process of the
Convention and form the basis for the protocol texts. (Gough et al., 1998;
Grunfeld, 1999; Tuinstra et al., 1999; Backstrand, 2001; Castells and Ravetz, 2001;
Eckley, 2002; Sundqvist et al., 2002; Farrell and Keating, 2005; VanDeveer, 2005).
There are 8 protocols, based on the themes, under CLRTAP that aim to
reduce air pollutants:
• EMEP - ”Protocol on Long-term Financing of the Cooperative
Programme for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Long-range
Transmission of Air Pollutants in Europe”
• 1999 Protocol to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground-Level
Ozone (Gothenburg Protocol)
• Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
• Protocol on Heavy Metals
• Protocol on the Reduction of Sulphur Emissions
• Protocol on the Control of Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds
or Their Transboundary Fluxes
• Protocol on the Control of Emissions of Nitrogen Oxides or their
Transboundary Fluxes
• Protocol on the Reduction of Sulphur Emissions or their Transboundary
Fluxes by at Least 30%
Türkiye is among the first countries to sign the convention. In 1985, Türkiye
ratified the ”Protocol on Long-term Financing of the Cooperative Programme
for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Long-range Transmission of Air Pollutants

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Special Issue / 2024