UNU Rector Konrad Osterwalder (left) and Shimadzu President Shigehiko Hattori following the signing ceremony. Photo: Jeremy Hedley/UNU.

On 25 November, UNU Rector Konrad Osterwalder and Shimadzu President Shigehiko Hattori signed an agreement to establish the 5th phase of the project “Environmental Monitoring and Governance in the Asian Coastal Hydrosphere”. The signing ceremony marks a new phase in pollution monitoring in Asia.

The project, one of the UNU’s pioneering public and private-sector partnership projects was established 12 years ago. Its aim is to strengthen environmental research and education capacities in Asian developing countries and, over the longer term, create the scientific infrastructure necessary for environmental governance and pollution-monitoring in the region.

With generous support from Shimadzu Corporation, the 5th phase (2008–2011) will target the monitoring of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the environment.  Classified as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that are regulated under the Stockholm Convention, PCBs are toxic to human and ecological health.