The 10th Joint Session of the EMEP Steering Body and the Working Group on Effects (WGE) took place in Geneva (Swtzerrland) from September 9-13, 2024. At this meeting, the EMEP Centres, Task Forces, and the WGE’s International Cooperative Programmes (ICPs) reported on their recent and ongoing activities and discussed plans and priorities for the coming year. Additionally, participants explored possibilities for enhancing collaboration among subsidiary bodies under the Convention, as well as outreach and cooperative activities with other international organisations.

During this session, MSC-E presented the implementation plan for its activities, hosted by the Jožef Stefan Institute (Ljubljana, Slovenia), in line with the Centre’s revised mandate and the bi-annual workplan for the implementation of the Convention. The Centre outlined its ongoing and planned efforts, focusing on establishing practical means to fulfil its objectives, including the operational model assessment of transboundary pollution by heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs), as well as research and development of modelling tools.

In addition, the Centre presented the annual Status Report on heavy metal and POP pollution, prepared by MSC-E in collaboration with two other EMEP research centres. The report summarises the results of their operational and research work on emissions, monitoring, and modelling of these pollutants. We highlighted model assessments of heavy metal and POP pollution levels and their transboundary transport between the Parties to the Convention. MSC-E also showcased research activities conducted in collaboration with subsidiary bodies under the Convention (TFMM, TF HTAP) and other international organisations, such as the Minamata Convention and HELCOM. Furthermore, it announced a country-scale pilot study on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) pollution, initiated for Slovenia and other Balkan countries. Finally, the Centre outlined its priorities for contributing to the 2024-2025 bi-annual workplan for the implementation of the Convention.

The meeting webpage

https://unece.org/info/Environmental-Policy/Air-Pollution/events/384923