The Better Air Quality conference (BAQ) will be held in Hong Kong from 5 to 7 December 2012. The BAQ 2012 on  “Growing Cities, Healthy Cities” is reflecting on the challenge of creating livable cities with blue skies and a low carbon footprint in the face of increasing urbanization, and ensuring that people’s health is no longer affected by poor air quality. The BAQ conference is the flagship event of CAI-Asia. This biennial event brings leading experts, policy and decision makers together to network, learn and share experiences on air quality management.

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is the regional development arm of the United Nations for the Asia-Pacific region. With a membership of 62 Governments, 58 of which are in the region, and a geographical scope that stretches from Turkey in the west to the Pacific island nation of Kiribati in the east, and from the Russian Federation in the north to New Zealand in the south, ESCAP is the most comprehensive of the United Nations five regional commissions.

Three new reports build on the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s work with government and civil society on reforming fossil-fuel subsidies. Led by the IISD’s Global Subsidies Initiative, these studies shed light on the scale and impacts of fossil-fuel subsidies in Bangladesh, India and Indonesia, and provide practical advice on strategies for reform.