LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES DISCUSS URBAN AIR QUALITY IN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 000596

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV EAGR EAID TBIO ECON SOCI XR BO BR
SUBJECT: LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES DISCUSS URBAN AIR QUALITY IN
COCHABAMBA, BOLIVIA

BRASILIA 00000596 001.2 OF 002


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Summary
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The Universidad Catolica Boliviana hosted the 1st Bolivian Congress
on Urban Air Quality Management March 16-18 in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
The event was attended by students, environmentalists, scientists,
academics, and international consultants from several Latin American
countries. Air pollution is a general concern for Latin American
cities, yet most countries lack the funding and political will to
implement urban air pollution mitigation measures. Post believes
EPA's increasing support in training and exchanging information with
these countries would be of great value. End summary.

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The Event
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1. The 1st Bolivian Congress on Urban Air Quality Management, held
in Cochabamba March 16-18, brought together students,
environmentalists, scientists, academics, and international
consultants from several Latin American countries (Argentina,
Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Cuba, Mexico, and Chile).
The meeting was an opportunity for countries to exchange
information, know-how, and experiences on air quality management in
urban areas.


2. One of the event's main objectives was to raise awareness of
environmental authorities and municipal, state, and national
governments about the need to develop regional and national systems
to manage air quality in urban areas. Important themes discussed
included monitoring of atmospheric contamination, inventories of
pollutant emissions, contaminant diffusion and dispersion models,
atmospheric contamination prediction models, evaluation of health
and environmental impacts, and strategies and plans of action for
emission reduction, norms, and indicators.

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The Situation in Bolivia
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3. Although Bolivia does not currently have high levels of urban
air pollution, increasing car emissions may result in a decline in
air quality. According to the World Bank, 70 percent of Bolivia's
air contamination comes from vehicles, only a third of which pass
emissions tests. With fifty percent of the country's population
living in urban areas and the size of Bolivia's car fleet increasing
dramatically, this represents a source of growing concern. Thus, it
is necessary to develop qualified human resources and legal and
technical experts in order to effectively manage air quality.

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Current Regional Efforts and Levels of Expertise
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4. One of the main sponsors of the event was Swisscontact, a Swiss
non-governmental organization involved in development cooperation

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(www.swisscontact.org). Swisscontact has worked with air quality
control in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. Their work in South America
is carried out through the Swiss Agency for Development and
Cooperation (COSUDE).


5. Several countries sent delegations with substantial individual
and institutional knowledge. Ecuador sent three representatives from
a non-governmental organization specializing in urban air quality
control, CORPAIRE (www.corpaire.org). The NGO's experts demonstrated
an advanced level of preparedness in the issue. Representatives
from Mexico and Chile were by far the most knowledgeable and
experienced at the event.


6. Bolivia, on the other hand, is probably the country in most need
of technical capacity-building. Many researchers and students from
universities in La Paz and Cochabamba were present and demonstrated
interest in learning from neighboring countries. However, local
environmental authorities were not present at the event, which
demonstrated a lack of political interest in the topic (a comment
made by the event organizers themselves).

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Conclusion
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7. A Swisscontact representative commented, during the opening of
the event, that within the past ten years, Latin Americans have been
able to build up enough expertise in air quality issues to "walk on
their own feet." Despite the scarcity of financial and human
resources, most countries seem to have a good grasp of the direction
they are heading with respect to air quality control. However,
according to an expert from Arequipa (Peru),Latin American
countries would benefit from U.S. training in air quality
management. In fact, EPA methods and information were broadly used
by several speakers. To the majority, EPA is a worldwide reference
for air quality standards and technical expertise.


8. Although these countries have a broad knowledge at a policy and
scientific level, few are able to actually implement urban air
pollution mitigation measures due to a lack of funding and political
will. Even though the event was a unique opportunity for Latin
American countries to compare notes on urban air quality management,
it did not reach its objective in trying to sensitize and energize
governmental entities to focus on the issue with urgency. Post
believes it would be beneficial to either arrange a Voluntary
Visitors program for South American air quality experts or to carry
out EPA-led training sessions in countries such as Bolivia and Peru.
An opportunity will present itself next year to work with these
countries, as Colombia announced that it will be hosting a similar
event March 14-16, 2007, at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia.

LINEHAN