This Webinar is part of a series of online events organised in the framework of the EUMETSAT interaction with its users in Africa. These Webinars aim at keeping African stakeholders (users, decision makers, partner institutions, etc) informed about the access and exploitation of satellite data operated by EUMETSAT in support of sustainable development in Africa and related continental strategies and policies. These events complement the EUMETSAT User Forum in Africa, which takes place every two years (last Forum was organised on 12-16 September 2022 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania). In the past years, the following webinars were co-organised in partnership with African institutions or initiatives. A first webinar was organised in 2020 in cooperation with the African Development Bank and African Regional Climate Centres to showcase results of the SAWIDRA - ClimDev projects. In 2021, three webinars were held. The first one took place on March 31st, 2021 and focused on the new MTG satellite and its applications in Africa, The second event was dedicated to African Climate monitoring from Space and took place on June 7th and 8th, 2021 and the third one took place on 2 December 2021 on the Support to Blue economy in Africa. In March 2022 a webinar was organised on Nowcasting applications in Africa.

Air pollution is a great threat to human health, and Africa is not spared. A recent report from the African Union Commission, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, and the UN Environment Programme with technical support from Stockholm Environment Institute proposes a set of recommendations and identifies measures to reduce emissions causing air pollution and climate change, which would set the continent on a cleaner development pathway towards meeting the goals of the African Union Agenda 2063 – The Africa We Want.

The report notably recommends the establishment of a continent wide Africa Clean Air Program, which would, among other aspects, “help collect and share data, utilise existing data and information sources, and increase capacity and equipment for new data collection and management, with monitoring and evaluation, emissions and air quality modelling, and education and communication”

The report was presented and discussed at the 18th African Ministerial Conference on the Environment held in Dakar in September 2022. AMCEN Decision 18/4 “notes the completion of the integrated Assessment of Air Pollution and Climate Change for Sustainable Development in Africa and its report, in response to AMCEN decision 17/2. Urge African countries to support further development and implementation of the 37 recommended measures as a continent-wide Africa Clean Air Program, coordinated by strong country-led initiatives, cascaded to the Regional Economic Communities and higher levels of policy. The space community has strived to respond to the growing demand of global reliable data supporting air quality and composition at various scales, from near real time event follow-up to climate monitoring. In the past 20 years, a suite of remote-sensing instruments operate to monitor atmospheric composition and Air Quality from Space. EUMETSAT is in charge of the Metop (EPS) and Meteosat programs that provide continuous observations over the next two decades. Space-based observations support air quality monitoring through key gaseous components and monitor phenomena impacting health and security such as desert dust and wildfire emissions through a wide range of observational methods. New generation missions (EPS-SG and MTG) will also host Copernicus Sentinels instruments (S-4 and S-5) dedicated to air quality. Since 1997, EUMETSAT has run the Atmospheric Composition monitoring Satellite Application Facility (AC SAF), which supports the monitoring of ozone depletion, air quality and surface UV radiation.

Within the Copernicus framework, the European Union has established the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), which provides consistent and quality-controlled information related to air pollution and health, solar energy, greenhouse gases and climate forcing, everywhere in the world. CAMS intensively uses products provided by EUMETSAT and its SAFs. Copernicus also includes dedicated satellite Sentinel-5 instruments, which globally monitor key air quality trace gases and aerosols.

The EUMETSAT and Copernicus products can respond to needs that are even more stringent in developing countries that are highly vulnerable to air quality and climate change. Space-based observation can increase the monitoring capability that is deemed limited for reliable in-situ observatories.

It is expected to have a growing number of African groups and organisations using satellite data and integrated products such as Copernicus services,

The aim of this webinar is to initiate a dialogue between European and African Union Member States, Regional Economic Communities and other partners to see how EUMETSAT and Copernicus Air Quality Monitoring products could contribute to the objective of the Africa Clean Air Programme.

The Webinar will inform about:

Participants to the Webinar will also suggest ways to foster this Europe-Africa cooperation in the coming years.

1. the scope of the African Clean Air Programme, and the gaps identified in term of Air Quality Monitoring;
2. the data and products provided by EUMETSAT and the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service;
3. the benefits of these products for Africa, via the experience from African users;
4. how to access data and related training materials;

The Webinar is targeted for Member States, RECs and is open to everyone with interest in air quality management.

Target audience are policy makers, professionals and academics active in the area of remote sensing, air quality monitoring and atmospheric modelling, as well as partners that plan to contribute to the African Clean Air Programme.

The AUC will send Note Verbale to Member States and RECs, EUMETSAT and CAMS will advertise the Webinar through their respective mailing list, and via social media. EUMETSAT will set-up a registration page (via the zoom application) and will share the list of registered participants with AUC and CAMS (respecting GDPR data privacy rules).

The Webinar will be recorded. And the recording will be made available to AUC, CAMS and EUMETSAT for posting on their website or youtube channels.

Based on past webinars, it is expected to reach a live audience of ~150 to 200 participants.

The Webinar will be 2 x 2 hours on the same day. Starting at 08h00 UTC (11:00 EAT) for the first part and at 12h00 UTC (15:00 EAT) for the second part, with a 2 hours break between the sessions.

The 1st session will inform on the Political framework of Air Pollution monitoring in Africa and Satellite contribution to the monitoring of Air Quality

The 2nd session will inform on existing experience in Africa on the matter. A round table will be organised to allow discussion on future potential actions and cooperations.

The webinar will be delivered Live via Zoom. EUMETSAT will be in charge of setting up the Zoom (Webinar mode) using its Zoom licence that can accommodate more than 1000 participants. EUMETSAT will also hire interpreters for English / French.

All contributors will be asked to be available on Zoom, to present and respond to typed questions and answers.

The banner that will be shared in the different social media platforms.