In a quest for blue sky and clean air, the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) has called on the governments of Asian countries to take a tougher stance on open burning, one of the major causes of air pollution in the region.
By coincidence, the appeal came on Sunday as the Pollution Control Department closed forest areas in the North and haze over Mae Hong Son caused delay of at least one flight from Bangkok. (Details below)
"Governments need to push the right regulations, because in developing countries the private sector in cities continue to push their own agenda through government agencies and sometimes it's not what the city truly needs," Burt Fabian, programme officer of UN Environment, said at the 2018 Asia-Pacific Clean Air Partnership (Apcap) Joint Forum, held in Bangkok last week.
