The North-East Asia Clean Air Partnership (NEACAP) is a subregional initiative established to address the pressing issue of air pollution in North-East Asia. Formally launched in 2018 under the framework of the North-East Asian Subregional Programme for Environmental Cooperation (NEASPEC), NEACAP serves as a platform that brings together member countries—China, Japan, Mongolia, the Republic of Korea, and the Russian Federation – in their collective efforts to improve air quality. The partnership is driven by a science-based and policy-oriented approach aimed at mitigating air pollution and its impacts.

Supported by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) through its Subregional Office for East and North-East Asia, NEACAP facilitates the exchange of policy experiences among the member States to enhance understanding of air pollution trends and dynamics. Additionally, NEACAP acts as a voluntary framework for promoting environmental cooperation, integrating scientific research with policy development to address both national and subregional air quality challenges.

NEACAP also contributes to broader regional initiatives, such as the Asia-Pacific Regional Action Programme on Air Pollution (RAPAP), which was adopted by member States to improve air quality management across the region. NEACAP supports RAPAP through capacity building, technical cooperation, exchange of best practices, and facilitating multilateral cooperation.

At the Twenty-Eighth Senior Officials Meeting (SOM-28) of the North-East Asian Subregional Programme for Environmental Cooperation (NEASPEC) held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from 22 to 23 September 2025, NEASPEC member States marked another pivotal milestone for environmental cooperation in the subregion. Following NEASPEC’s 30th anniversary marked in 2023, NEASPEC member States adopted the NEASPEC Strategic Plan 2026–2030, which sets a strengthened framework for advancing subregional collaboration on environmental sustainability through partnership-oriented, data-driven, and capacity-building approaches. In parallel, NEASPEC member States approved the North-East Asia Clean Air Partnership (NEACAP) Work Plan 2026–2030, reaffirming air pollution as a priority focus and the underscoring the importance of NEACAP as an effective platform to deliver concrete outputs on science-policy interface development, knowledge sharing and outreach. The NEACAP Work Plan will facilitate collective actions and partnerships on priority areas, including joint research, technical cooperation through NEACAP Technical Centres, and outreach activities to enhance the science-policy interface. Planned activities for 2026 are organized across knowledge production, sharing, and dissemination. Under Knowledge Production (Research and Policy Advice), NEACAP will initiate preparatory and scoping work for analytical research on air quality management and its synergies with climate change. This includes consultations to define research scope, identifying partners and contributors, and developing a work plan for implementation. Under Knowledge Sharing (Capacity Building), NEACAP will jointly organize a NEACAP Symposium with partner Technical Center(s) and convene a NEACAP Policy Dialogue alongside SOM-29, in consultation with the SOM-29 host country (Russian Federation). These events aim to strengthen information exchange and cross-sectoral collaboration to support member countries in improving air quality. In addition, NEACAP will deliver capacity-building activities such as trainings, seminars, and workshops coordinated with TCs and external partners to enhance technical collaboration and align with existing mechanisms. Under Knowledge Dissemination (Outreach), NEACAP will develop an outreach and communications kit, including infographics on the NEACAP Policy Analysis Report, visibility through platforms such as RAPAP, and joint communications with subregional initiatives. Finally, NEACAP will organize the Eight Meeting of the Science and Policy Committee (SPC-8) (source: NEACAP Activity Plan 2026). 

The adoption of the multi-year plans for NEASPEC and NEACAP underscore the strong commitment of North-East Asian countries to address air pollution challenges while building synergies with regional and global mechanisms in pursuit of cleaner air and sustainable development.

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