NO PROGRESS ON REDUCING ULAANBAATAR AIR POLLUTION

UNCLAS ULAANBAATAR 000023


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV PREL EAID PGOV MG
SUBJECT: NO PROGRESS ON REDUCING ULAANBAATAR AIR POLLUTION
IN 2008

REF: 08 ULAANBAATAR 262



1. (U) SUMMARY. Ulaanbaatar's air pollution remains one of
Mongolia's most critical environmental problems. Recent government
studies show that some forms of the city's air pollution increased
by as much as 20 percent in 2008. The government has allocated 50
billion tugruks (approximately USD 38.5 million) from the state
budget to fight air pollution between 2007 and 2010. To date, 5.5
billion tugruks (approximately USD 4.2 million) has been spent, with
no noticeable improvement in air quality. Reasons for the lack of
progress are inability to change laws due to the recent government
transition, lack of funding due to the global financial crisis, and
the difficulty in convincing poor residents living in the
communities that surround Ulaanbaatar to burn less polluting fuels
for warmth during Mongolia's long, cold winters. END SUMMARY.

UB'S AIR GETTING WORSE
--------------


2. (U) According to Mongolia's National Agency for Meteorology and
Environmental Monitoring (AME),air pollution in the capital city,
Ulaanbaatar, grew worse in 2008. According to the agency's
recently-released statistical information, average PM10 (particulate
matter with a diameter of 10 micrometers) reached 210 micrograms per
cubic meter (mcg/m3) in December 2008, 4.2 times higher than the WHO
air quality guideline level of 50 mcg/m3. This rate is up from 170
mcg/m3 in December 2007. Some parts of the city fared worse than
others, with the most polluted parts having PM10s of 430 mcg/m3. In
December 2008, Ulaanbaatar's average sulfur dioxide level hit 55
mcg/m3, 2.8 times greater than the WHO Air Quality guideline level
of 20 mcg/m3 (See reftel for health impacts of these pollution
levels).


3. (U) As reported reftel, the city's geography and its population
boom are the major reasons for continuing and growing pollution.
Polluted air -- which is not-so-affectionately but accurately called
"the smoke" -- accumulates in the center of Ulaanbaatar, a
high-altitude, bitterly cold city, until it is blown out by wind,
which is itself often blocked by the mountains. Over the past
decade, the city's population has skyrocketed to over one million
people from approximately 450,000 over a decade ago. Many of the
new transplants are poor herders who moved to the city from the
countryside after their livestock was wiped out by winter storms.
Many of them live in gers (traditional felt structures) in vast
"ger" districts that surround Ulaanbaatar's central city complex.
Each family uses an average of 5.3 tons of coal to stay warm each
winter. Estimates show that 130,000 families live in the ger
communities of Ulaanbaatar. (at five persons per family, about
650,000 people, equals 60% of the city population)


4. (U) According to information released from the Air Quality
Professional Agency, each year Ulaanbaatar's power stations, heating
boilers, and ger residents burn 7.4 million tons of coal and 237,000
cubic meters of wood. The number of registered automobiles
continues to increase year by year, from about 10,000 in 1995, to
76,000 in 2005, to 95,000 in 2007. In addition, most automobiles
are old: only 6.3 percent are less than three years old, while 46.6
percent are four to six years old and 41.2 percent are seven to ten
years old. Traffic jams caused by the increase in cars and
exacerbated by poorly planned city roads and traffic systems cause
additional pollution.

THE CONTINUING GOVERNMENT RESPONSE
--------------


5. (U) Most work on Ulaanbaatar's air pollution has focused on
determining the extent of the problem and on developing a planning
process to alleviate it. On the measurement side, the main
government agency, the Air Quality Office, measures city air
quality. The German government, through the German aid agency GTZ,
has provided air quality monitoring displays in four locations
throughout the city. The World Bank has also proposed an
"Ulaanbaatar Clean Air" project awaiting government approval before
it can be implemented. The government has dedicated money to the
pollution reduction effort, putting 50 billion tugruks
(approximately USD 38.5 million) in the state budget for the issue
between 2007 and 2010; 5.5 billion tugruks (approximately USD 4.2
million) have already been spent.


6. (U) Some legal developments are underway, although they are
developing slowly. A draft law has been developed to legalize the
so-called "Polluter Pays Principle". In addition, there are draft
laws and proposed amendments on the standing Law on Air and Law on
Protecting the Environment that would strengthen and promote
activities related to the reduction of air pollution as well as
broaden scope of the laws. Ratification of the draft laws and
amendments, however, has been slowed by the establishment of the new
government. The ministries and agencies charged with developing and
implementing the relevant legislation and regulations have been
reticent to take formal action for nearly a year, awaiting final
approval by Mongolia's parliament of the new government structure.
However, the new government structure was formally approved in
December 2008 and the government expects more progress in 2009.


7. (U) The global financial crisis has also hindered Mongolia's
ability to reduce air pollution in Ulaanbaatar. For instance, one
significant government program would construct 40,000 apartments to
relocate families from the ger districts. None of these apartments
have yet been completed in Ulaanbaatar. A similar situation exists
throughout all of Ulaanbaatar, with many unfinished large
construction projects scattered throughout town.


8. (U) The government's plan to establish a sales network for
delivering semi-coke (lower smoke-producing) briquettes to consumers
and educating them on the benefits of using the briquettes has also
failed to gain traction (ref provides a general overview of the
initiative). During the project start-up phase, some ger residents
were provided semi-coke briquettes and fuel saving stoves. Many of
the recipients, however, did not like the briquettes, and complained
that they did not provide the same amount of heat as raw coal, did
not significantly reduce smoke, and were not as cheap as promised.
Many others did not use the fuel saving stoves, either because they
did not find them suitable for starting fires or because they did
not work properly. (COMMENT: As with many such laudable projects,
this one has suffered from a failure by the both the government and
the donors to reach out to the ger district dwellers far in advance
of its introduction. There is no evidence that the government
attempted to explain the program to the people affected; nor did
they solicit advice from the ger dwellers on how the stoves and fuel
could be best utilized given the traditional patterns of heating
gers. End Comment.)


9. (U) Another on-going but slow-moving project, the "Liquid Gas
Program," was approved in 2000. Today there are approximately 1,500
vehicles running on liquefied petroleum gas, and four liquid gas
stations. Most of these vehicles belong to a large petroleum
distribution firm that caters to its large fleet of cars, trucks,
and tankers. Program managers are now exploring the possibility of
switching public buses from fuel consuming into ones that run on
liquefied gas.

MOVING FORWARD WITH A HELPING HAND
--------------

10. (U) Mongolian environmental specialists and officials readily
recognize the air pollution program and realize that it requires
legal, economic, and technological solutions. They routinely ask
for U.S. and other foreign country advice, equipment, resources, and
assistance, and would welcome nearly any support in this area.

HILL