DENR, PCA spearhead the 7th Clean Air Forum

• Source: http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/231435631373/denr-pca-spearhead-the-7th-clean-air-forum
• Tuesday, June 30, 2015

(DENR/RJB/SDL/PIA-NCR)

QUEZON CITY, June 30 (PIA)—The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in cooperation with the Partnership for Clean Air Inc. (PCA), a multi-sectoral coalition of clean air advocates led the conduct of the 7th Clean Air Forum in an attempt to quantify the economic benefits of the 16-year-old local clean air law.

State regulators and their partners for clean air are holding their annual forum from June 30 to July 1 at the Bulwagang Romeo Edu of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in Quezon City

Now on its 7th year, the Clean Air Forum was established to review on a yearly basis the progress of Republic Act No. 8749 or the Philippine Clean Air Act. This year’s theme, “Towards Identifying the Economic Benefits of Clean Air: A Call to Action.”

The highlight of the two-day forum is the presentation by Dr. Serafin Talisayon of “Proposed Framework on Economic Benefits of Air Pollution Regulation,” which will show the methodology for valuation of impacts on the economy from exposure to air pollutants and for quantifying the benefits of air pollution regulation in terms of their contribution to the country’s economy.

The forum also aims to look for ways on how the clean air sector can help create opportunities for new jobs and spur interest from the private sector to invest in cleaner technologies.

Government agencies like the DENR, the LTO, the Department of Transportation and Communications and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority are expected to give a presentation of their respective performances in enforcing the law.

Other topics and speakers at the forum are Project on Improving the Air Quality by Energy Undersecretary Loreta Ayson; Productivity Loss in Traffic by Dr. Regin Regidor, director of the University of the Philippines-National Center for Transportation Studies; Assessment of Health Impacts of Air Pollutions by Dr. Daphne Bate of the Lung Center of the Philippines; Indoor Air Pollution in Car Parks and Malls by Engr. Nelia Granadillos of the Occupational Safety & Health Center; and Mobile Emission Inventory of Metro Manila by Dr. Noriel Tiglao, Director of the UP-National College of Public Administration and Governance.