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East Asia & Pacific is facing some great development challenges today: urbanization, protection of the environment, the need to find renewable energy sources and many others. This site wants to create a conversation around those important issues. More »

pollution

Giving conservationists and nature lovers (some) reason to hope for the future

Submitted by Tony Whitten on Tue, 2009-07-21 14:45

It’s high time I write something which doesn’t seem to be the work of a manic-depressive. Many of my blogs have majored on the negatives, but I honestly wouldn’t be in this business if I didn’t have within me a deep-rooted hope for the future. As I have remarked before, conservationists are a wonderful band, but put a group of ebullient conservation friends together, and within half an hour the conversation has quieted down, turned grumpy, and you need to watch out in case any of them looks as though they are contemplating jumping from the office balcony or a handy cliff. We don’t celebrate the successes, or even the potential ones, enough. It’s a cliché to say that the war is being lost while battles are being won, but we should at least encourage each other with battle victory parties.

Mongolia's growing shantytowns: the cold and toxic ger districts

Submitted by Dave Lawrence on Wed, 2009-07-08 14:06

Children breathe thick, toxic smog from thousands of stoves in Ulaanbaatar's ger districts, which are home to 60 percent of the city's population.

There’s no capital city anywhere in the world with a housing problem like Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Imagine a city of one million people. Then imagine 60 percent of them living in settlements without water, sanitation or basic infrastructure, often in traditional Mongolian felt tents, known as gers. Then imagine these people relying on wood- or coal-burning stoves for cooking and heating, with fuel costs eating up 40 percent of their income. Then imagine the discomfort of having to get up in the middle of the night when it’s -35 degrees Celsius to go to the bathroom – outdoors.

Worst of all, imagine you and your children breathing the thick, toxic smog from thousands of stoves 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Unfortunately, this is not imagination, this is the real situation for over a half million people living in the ger districts of the capital. Not a pretty picture.

Zai jian – Goodbye – See you again: a look back on China's progress upon leaving the World Bank

Submitted by David Dollar on Thu, 2009-07-02 10:46

This is my last week in the World Bank, after working at the institution for 20 years, the last five as country director for China and Mongolia.

A few weeks ago I had the unique opportunity to camp out on top of the Great Wall, which was a fitting exclamation mark at the end of my five years as the World Bank's China Country Director. It was a cloudy, drizzly day as we started, but then cleared up and turned into a lovely evening. The large group of kids we had with us slept in one of the guard towers along the wall, but I and a few others opted to sleep under the stars. The next morning opened with some mist, but then turned into a spectacular blue day. Some long-term Beijing residents hiking with us noted that they couldn’t recall ever seeing the countryside so green.

Beijing’s dry climate sets a limit on how green and blue it’s ever going to get, but the improvement over five years is noticeable and is one of the two most striking achievements of China in this period. In many cities, air pollution has declined as a result of policies that include banning the use of coal in inner cities, strengthening public transportation, discouraging car use (gasoline now costs 50% more than in the U.S.), moving heavy industry out of inner cities, and more stringent enforcement of environmental regulations.

Call for a green China: permanent improvement, with room for more

Submitted by David Dollar on Mon, 2009-05-18 10:13

Children perform during "Call for Green China" – a unique cultural tour to raise awareness about pressing environmental issues in China and possible solutions.

The old people in the park are saying that this was the best April in 20-plus years in terms of air quality here in Beijing. There has been permanent improvement based on some of the changes made for the Olympics: some factories relocated to less populous areas, restrictions on private car use, improved public transportation as an alternative.

Other factors are more long term – the sandstorms common when I lived here in 1986 are largely gone, owing to successful re-greening efforts west of here. There was a frenzied pace of construction as modern Beijing was being built, which has naturally slowed down – construction dust was a key part of air pollution here.

There is more room for improvement, but the progress was notable during a lovely April. One key issue going forward will be to continue to control private vehicle use.

Video: Getting commuters onto bikes in the Philippines

Submitted by James I Davison on Mon, 2009-05-11 15:48

A couple weeks ago, blogger Chris Pablo wrote here about a project designed to get more people in the Philippines riding bicycles by creating and designating separate bike paths in Marikina City, a medium-sized city at the eastern edge of Metro Manila.

Chris writes:

The project, which started in 2001, seems to have achieved its demonstration effect. From a survey done in 2006, the share of bike trips to all trips in the city increased to 9.5%, from 4% in 1999. Bicycle ownership also grew.

The short World Bank-produced video below gives another look at the successful project:

Facing traffic and pollution, Philippines city invests in bicycles

Submitted by Chris Pablo on Thu, 2009-04-30 13:54

During the Martial Law years in the Philippines (1970s to early 1980s), there was a story widely shared (discreetly) about a popular TV variety show host who was made to ride the bicycle all day in a military camp. According to accounts, he apparently displeased the rulers at the time for making a quip about the government's running slogan that goes, "sa ika-uunlad ng bayan, disiplina ang kailangan."Loosely translated, it means, "for the country to progress, discipline is what is needed."

What the TV host jokingly proclaimed was – "sa ika-uunlad ng bayan, bisikleta ang kailangan" ("what the country needs for progress is the bicycle"). True or not, the story fascinates me to this day. First, because some people just can't take a good joke. More importantly, because I thought the TV host must be a real visionary! He may have foreseen the traffic and pollution conditions some 15 years in the future and the need for cheaper alternatives for mobility.

From space and on the ground, better air quality observed in Beijing

Submitted by James I Davison on Thu, 2009-02-19 18:28

A few days before the 2008 Olympic Games began last August, China blogger David Dollar noticed that Beijing's efforts to clean up its air seemed to be paying off. Well, it seems that after the officials took the worst polluting vehicles off the road, temporarily shut down some major polluting factories, and limited the amount of traffic, the city's air quality did indeed get better.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) yesterday released a report concluding that Olympic organizers successfully made efforts to improving the city's environment for an "eco-friendly mass spectator sporting event." The press release stated, "These achievements are all the more impressive given that the Games were held in a rapidly developing city in a country facing multiple development challenges in the first decade of the 21st century." You can download the full report here.

An interesting part of the report points to NASA data, which used satellite imagery to demonstrate that air quality over the city improved. Mongabay.com wrote about these findings in December:

A call for international climate change policy

Submitted by James I Davison on Wed, 2008-11-05 17:25

The Garnaut Climate Change Review, compared to other influential reports on the issue, factors in economic growth and intensifying emissions from developing countries.

As news of the financial crisis and U.S. presidential election has dominated headlines in recent months, I find it amazing how quickly other crucial issues can slip to the back of one’s mind. Specifically, I’m talking about the topic of climate change, a major area of concern, particularly for developing countries. As economies stabilize and Americans get ready for a historic change in leadership, the climate change issue will surely come back into focus as leaders around the world make the seemingly inevitable move toward policy reform. Last week, I listened to a man discuss his work, which may influence Australian and international leaders to take steps toward a new framework of climate change policy.

In 2007, state and national governments in Australia commissioned economics professor Ross Garnaut to conduct what ultimately become the Garnaut Climate Change Review. The final report was presented to the Australia’s prime minister in late September and is available for download online.

Traffic, air a bit better in Beijing

Submitted by David Dollar on Mon, 2008-08-04 21:58
The CCTV building in downtown Beijing. The skies returned to gray on Tuesday, yet the air is cleaner than a year ago.

The temporary measures that Beijing has taken to improve air quality in the lead-up to the Olympics seem to be having some payoff.  Saturday and Sunday, August 2 and 3, were beautiful, clear days with blue skies.  By Tuesday, however, the skies over the downtown area were gray again as an inversion settled over the city.  Still, the air is cleaner than last year.  The results of the temporary measures reveal both how nice it is to have clearer skies and how easy in fact it is to make some inroads into the air pollution.  The temporary measures point the way to simple permanent measures that could make the air quality better sustainably.

First, Beijing has taken the worst polluting trucks off the road.  In recent years China has raised its vehicle standards beyond even what California has – but an important catch is that the higher standards are for new vehicles.  There are many old, heavy polluting vehicles on the road.  It is in China’s interest to bar these vehicles from large cities starting right now.

Second, it is possible to identify some major polluting factories.  These have been temporarily shut down for the Olympics.  The smart long-term policy is to either require stronger scrubbers/emissions control on these plants and/or to use zoning regulations to prevent their location anywhere close to major populations.

Biodiversity Restoration in Lake Dianchi, China - Part 1

Submitted by Tony Whitten on Thu, 2008-07-17 14:37

Last year was marked by the breeding of Little Grebes in Xialiangwang, one of the ‘Restoration of Freshwater Biodiversity in Lake Dianchi’ project's restoration sites.
See more photos.

Today I paid my final visit to the office of the ‘Restoration of Freshwater Biodiversity in Lake Dianchi’ project. It’s been part of my life for over a decade and I have come to feel very avuncular towards it. I expected to feel quite sad when the final reporting was completed, but in fact there is still so much going on, capitalizing on the gains they have made over the years, that I am actually full of hope for continued positive outcomes as it comes of age without the support of the Bank and the GEF.