Combatting urban air pollution impacts on maternal and child health in Asia: A Science and Policy Dialogue

Parallel sessions

Parallel Session: Asia group: Develop urban clean air action plans for reducing health impacts of air pollution

9:20am – 3pm, Wednesday, 30 October

Session objectives

• Share country-level experiences, good practices, challenges and priority actions for tackling urban air pollution impacts on

maternal and child health

• Discuss the gaps and priority collaboration areas to improve science-policy interface and accelerate actions on urban air

pollution and health impacts

• Propose an action plan for combatting urban air pollution impacts on maternal and child health in Asia

Start End Session Details

09:20 10:20

Part 1: Country experiences, good practices, challenges and priority actions to combat urban air pollution and

its effects on child and maternal health

Moderator: Ms. Seonmi Choi, UNICEF EAPEO

• Clean Air Asia: Ms. Glynda E. Bathan, Deputy Executive Director (Clean air action planning-20 min)

• Kazakhstan: Mr. Zhandarbek Bekshin, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for the Control of the quality

and safety of goods and services of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Chief State

Sanitary Doctor of the Republic of Kazakhstan (National level policies and actions-10 min)

• Myanmar: Mr. Tin Htut, UNICEF Myanmar (10 min)

• Indonesia: Ibu Risnawati (Risna), Directorate of Environment of the National Planning Agency

(BAPPENAS), Republic of Indonesia (Sectoral interventions, 10 min)

• Mongolia (10 min)

o Erdenet: Mr. S. Jargalsaikhan, Orkhon aimag Environmental department (Orkhon aimag)

o Bayankhongor: Mr. G. Batjargal, Bayankhongor Governor (BKH aimag actions against air

pollution and integration of health issues into the plan)

Country presentations will cover the following areas:

• Needs for evidence-generation, air quality and health data collection/monitoring and innovations in

science

• Strengthening national/local policies

• Targeted programmatic interventions to reduce children and communities’ exposure to air pollution, to

reduce air pollution from economic sectors and to strengthen health systems strengthening, engaging

children and youth

• Financing challenges and opportunities

• South-South-North cooperation

10:20 11:00 Part II: Regional and international-level priority actions for combatting urban air pollution impacts on child

and maternal health in Asia: science-policy interface, enabling policy environment, programmatic

interventions and financing

Moderator: Ms. Glynda E. Bathan, Clean Air Asia

Science-policy interface

• Prof. Kirk R. Smith, University of California, Berkeley, the USA (10 mins)

• Prof. Andreas Cyprianou, University of Bath, UK (10 mins)

• Dr. Claire von Mullendorf, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Australia (10 mins)

• Dr. Mazrura Sahani, National University of Malaysia (10 mins)

11:00 11:20 Coffee/Tea break

11:20 12:00 Policy, programmatic interventions and financing

• Mr. Mark Broomfield, RICARDO Energy and Environment: Need for emissions inventories/modelling

including using tools like BENMAP-CE/air quality monitoring/Health Impact Assessment to inform Clean

Air Action Plans (10 min)

• Dr. Gajanana Hegde, UNFCCC: Global climate financing, co-benefits and its links to air pollution and

health financing (10 mins)

• Mr. Qiang Wang, Director of Division on Women and Children’s Environmental Health, Chinese Center,

P.R. China China’s South South and international cooperation on climate mitigation and air pollution (10

mins)

12:00 13:00 Breakout Group Work on city-level, national and international action priorities

• Group 1 on science and science-policy interface (Resource persons: Prof. Kirk R. Smith, Dr. Claire von

Mullendorf)

• Group 2 on enabling policy environment: sectoral, national/subnational (Resource persons: Mr. Mark

Broomfield, Ms. Seonmi Choi)

• Group 3 on targeted programmatic interventions to reduce air pollution from economic sectors, to

reduce children’s exposure to air pollution and to strengthen health systems to reduce child and

maternal health effects of air pollution, engaging children and youth (Ms. Glynda E. Bathan, Qiang

Wang, Dr. Mazrura Sahani)

• Group 4 on financing challenges, opportunities and partnerships (Gajanana Hegde, UNFCCC, Prof.

Andreas Cyprianou)

Resource persons for each group should come up with guiding questions. Questions should provide the gaps and

action priorities needed to be addressed and incorporated in the City Clean air action plan.

13:00 14:00 Lunch

14:00 15:00 Formulation of an action plan/roadmap for combatting air pollution impacts on child and maternal health in Asia

Moderator: Ms. Seonmi Choi, UNICEF EAPRO

- Report back from the group work ( 20 mins)

- Discussion and agreement on the main action priorities of the Asia Group Urban Clean Air Action Plan for

child and maternal health and well-being (20 min)

- Final document to present at the Plenary Session (20 min)

Summary of notes

Part 1: Country experiences, good practices, challenges and priority actions to combat urban air pollution and its effects on child

and maternal health

In the Part 1, six country and city cases were presented; Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Indonesia, Pakistan, Orkhon and Bayankhongor

aimags of Mongolia. Country presentations covered the following areas:

• Needs for evidence-generation, air quality and health data collection/monitoring and innovations in science;

• Strengthening national/local policies;

• Targeted programmatic interventions to reduce children and communities’ exposure to air pollution, to reduce air pollution

from economic sectors and to strengthen health systems strengthening, engaging children and youth;

• Financing challenges and opportunities.

Part 2: Panel discussion on regional and international-level priority actions for combatting urban air pollution impacts on child

and maternal health in Asia: science-policy interface

In this part, Kirk Smith, University of California, Berkeley, USA, Andreas Kyprianou, University of Bath, UK, Claire Von Mullendorf,

Murdoch Children’s research institute, Australia, and Mazrura Sahani, National University of Malaysia were panelists.

Kirk Smith, University of California, Berkely, USA pointed out that Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia is unique in that the air

pollution problem is caused by itself, thus its own fate is in its hands. In many other places the pollution is generated in one place

and affects the people in those places. Also, it has one major source - the households.

Andreas Kyprianou, University of Bath, UK emphasized the importance of data for air pollution policy and necessity to develop

training and capacity building from the data analysis sector and pointed out that expertise of using data could help prove a point

about data, determine the effectiveness of policy, hence it is important to establish training partnerships to bring about statistical

training. He further referred to the fact that research collaboration is challenged by changing human resources and civil services and

this factor affects long term vision for research continuity, vision and ideas on air pollution.

Claire Von Mullendorf, Murdoch Children’s research institute, Australia pointed out that the research is monitoring and evaluation

on steroids and related to this, it is vital to be clear about questions to answer, work within the research framework of each

particular country, run interventions in parallel with research and ensure that research findings are fed into policy by decision

makers.

Mazrura Sahani, National University of Malaysia highlighted that the challenges we face are the modelling of the data and lack of

statistical capacity and training and referred to the case in Malaysia that the data were collected in 2000, but the analysis was only

done in 2013.

Part 3. Policy, programmatic interventions and financing

In part 3, the following presentations were made:

• Mr. Mark Broomfield, RICARDO Energy and Environment: Need for emissions inventories/modelling including using tools like

BENMAP-CE/air quality monitoring/health impact assessment to inform Clean Air Action Plans;

• Dr. Gajanana Hegde, UNFCCC: Global climate financing, co-benefits and its links to air pollution and health financing; and

• Mr. Qiang Wang, Director of Division on Women and Children’s Environmental Health, Chinese Center, P.R. China China’s

South South and international cooperation on climate mitigation and air pollution.

Part 4. Breakout Group Work on city-level, national and international action priorities

In part 4, the participants split into groups to discuss four questions, in relation to data, policy and air pollution strategy:

• What is the current situation?

• What are the gaps at the national and international levels?

• What needs to be done to fill these gaps?

• What are the key action priorities.

Four groups were created and discussed the above issues:

• Group 1 on science and science-policy interface;

• Group 2 on enabling policy environment: sectoral, national/subnational;

• Group 3 on targeted programmatic interventions to reduce air pollution from economic sectors, to reduce children’s

exposure to air pollution and to strengthen health systems to reduce child and maternal health effects of air pollution,

engaging children and youth; and

• Group 4 on financing challenges, opportunities and partnerships.

Group 1. Data, science and policy. The country representatives shared their views on present state of data availability, accessibility,

accuracy and its usage in policy making. In Malaysia, there are sufficient urban air pollution data, however health data are not linked,

and not always accessible. Challenges with health data are accuracy and comparability of health data, e.g. between hospitals. In

Mongolia, recently health and air pollution data have been linked through Environmental surveillance data at the National Center for

Public Health, however there is lack to communicate data, feed into policy and communicate for the public. China has a successful

practice on using available air quality data for actions e.g. alert systems, closing of schools. In summary, countries have ground level

air quality monitoring, but poor data discipline and data management and there is a need to identify where the policies should be

focused on the data. The group identified that the following gaps:

• Possible covariates are not always considered or collected, e.g. noise, light, weather, climate change, social demographics;

• Methodology – lack of standardisation.

• Lack of technical skills;

• Budget constraints

• Lack of dialogue between academia and governments.

Key action priorities to fill the gaps:

Capacity building

• Data science: Data management, data discipline. Huge amounts of data require much more training and restructuring to lead

to effective analysis and policy development.

• Air pollution communication training for healthcare professionals

• Communication and community participation: Understanding how best to communicate messages, citizen science

• Multi-disciplinary research

Vulnerable groups and exposure hotspots

• Inter-Sectoral co-ordination and holistic approaches, e.g. between environment and health ministries.

• Strengthening enforcement and compliance

• Why high-risk groups are not using mitigating measures, and why current implementations have failed. Identify and focus on

vulnerable groups and exposure hotspots

Targeted studies to bring together information on air pollution and health

• Health impact assessment; e.g. link to premature birth

• Need more data on indoor air quality

• Balance between economic benefit of activity (e.g. forest clearance) versus benefit of controls

Communication and community participation

• Understanding how best to communicate messages, citizen science.

• Improvement of interactions between academia and governments – a two-way process.

• Short summary briefings for politicians;

• Encouragement of corporate social responsibility – e.g. Malaysia tax exemption. Taxes directed towards research.

Group 2. Enabling policy environment. The country representatives shared their views current situation of policy environment in the

region’s countries. In Indonesia, air pollution is not directly reflected in national development plan. In Bangladesh, several policies are

in place such as Environment Conservation Act, Big Burning Act, Clean Fuels and Vehicles Roadmap mostly indirectly affecting child

and pregnant women’s exposure to air pollution. Kyrgyzstan has the National Action on Reducing AP in place and Nepal has

Environmental Quality Standards, EIA law, Green stickers for vehicles to enter the capital. In China, the Ministry of Ecology and

Environment is a powerful agency with strong, strict enforcement of air pollution laws through due diligence checks and with a

forecasting system per city where there is a contingency or emergency plan during ‘red’ alert days. In the country, there are low cost

monitoring systems in about 100 cities that are run by private companies. In terms of indoor air quality (IAQ), there has been much

progress

• India = 95% penetration of LPG cooking stoves

• Indonesia = successful LPG program to replace kerosene as cooking fuel

• India = there is a project to provide free clean fuel for pregnant women

• China = substituting coal for cooking and space heating with gas

The group identified that the following gaps at international and national levels

• Lack of inter-agency coordination in planning and implementation of air pollution laws and regulations

• Lack of Clean Air Act (BAN, NEP)

• Lack of research to support policy

• Lack of awareness of health impacts of air pollution on children and pregnant women

• Lack of international cooperation on how to combat air pollution effects on child and pregnant women

• Limited research on air pollution levels to support policy

• Lack of national and city-level action plans for combatting air pollution; and

• Lack of sector-specific action plans/regulations to reduce AP from sectors.

Key action priorities to fill the gaps:

• Inter-agency coordination (between environment, health and other agencies) to develop policies and implement plans to

reduce air pollution effects on children and pregnant women

• Between environment and health ministries

• Sharing of guidance on how to direct budgets, with economic analysis.

• Polluters pay for air pollution improvements: with guidance on how to spend it.

• Strengthening enforcement and compliance

• Institutional capacity building and reform for improving inter-agency coordination and implementation of policies,

regulations, plans to reduce AP effects on pregnant women and children

• Improve the legal basis for reducing air pollution (such as Clean Air Act)

• More awareness programs focused on child and maternal health and impacts from air pollution (such as through the Aarhus

Convention)

• Strengthen AP research to support policies to reduce AP effects on child and maternal health

• Develop national, state and city-level action plans for combatting AP with measures specifically intended to reduce impacts on

children and pregnant women

• Develop sector-specific action plans/regulations which consider the AP impacts on children and pregnant women

• Institutional capacity building and reform for improving inter-agency coordination and implementation of policies, regulations,

plans to reduce AP effects on pregnant women and children

• Strengthen or develop policies to make cleaner fuels available for cooking and heating; reducing air pollution levels in schools

and other places where pregnant women and children frequently go to

• International cooperation (research, experience sharing, training) on how to reduce effects of air pollution exposure of children

and women

Group 3. Targeted programmatic interventions

The country representatives have discussed what interventions are missing and what key actions should be undertaken. Key gaps

identified:

• Awareness among parents about pollution through the health service network,

• Capacity building

• Control on air pollution in hospitals

• Targeted studies to bring together information on air pollution and health; e.g. link to premature birth. F

• Data on indoor air quality

• Balance between economic benefit of activity (e.g. forest clearance versus benefit of controls)

• Policy advocacy

• Public engagement

• Public awareness campaigns at individual level – “your family, your children, your impact, what you can do”;

• Private sector engagement, cross-sectoral policy have been discussed.

Key action priorities:

1. More awareness programs focused on child and maternal health and impacts from AP (such as through the Aarhus Convention)

• Create awareness among parents about pollution through the health service network

• Public engagement through school curriculum

• Public awareness campaigns at individual level – “your family, your children, your impact, what you can do”

2. Engage with policy makers

• Present solutions rather than problems

• Understand the different roles (policy maker; implementer; targeted person; monitoring)

3. Engagement of private sector: if convinced, they can be quick to act. E.g. green fleet, green construction business

Group 4 Financing mechanism. The country representatives shared their views on current situation on financing air pollution reduction

policies and measures. In summary, the budget is limited due to lack of coordination and barriers of private sector participation due

to high interest rate of bank loans. In particular, financing of health sector for reducing air pollution exposure is lacking.

Key action priorities to fill the gaps:

• Raise domestic political commitments regarding to air pollution (various ministries/institutions), including increasing the

allocation for the health sector

• Develop national air pollution funding mechanism (collaboration between government – private – international development

agencies)

• Invest in the infrastructure which is “bankable”

• Develop financial risks mitigation to enable private sector participation

• Include health/air pollution indicators for climate related results-based finance from public and private sector

Recommendation

The conference participants agreed to call this document as “Facing the rising risks: Roadmap for Regional Cooperation to

combat Air Pollution and its impacts on health and development. In the 6th plenary session of the conference the

participants, including stakeholders from the governments, academia, international development organisations, civil society

and the business voted and closed with the agreement of the delegates to address air pollution, human health issues, generate

and disseminate scientific evidence, share knowledge and expertise at regional level, leverage resources and scale up regional

cooperation and partnership.

PARALLEL SESSION #2

Combatting urban air pollution impacts on maternal and child health in Asia: A Science and Policy Dialogue, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, 29-30 October 2019

Parallel Session: Mongolia group 1: Discuss and refine a National Research Agenda on air pollution and health

Chair: Acad. B. Burmaajav, Academy of Science, Mongolia 9:20am – 3pm, Wednesday, 30 October

Session objectives

• To identify research needs, institutional capacity and to find gaps related to air pollution and health research;

• To prioritize research themes within sectors;

• To identify financial challenges and opportunities, opportunities for research collaboration and potential partnerships at

international and national levels;

• To draft the structure and framework of the National Research Agenda and roadmap for comprehensive development.

Start End Session Details

09:20 10:00 Part 1: Presentations: Existing policy frameworks and recent and innovative studies on air pollution and health impacts Moderator: Acad. B. Burmaajav, Academy of Science, Mongolia

- Prof. Ryan Allen, Simon Fraser University, Canada (most recent innovative research, evidences, use of data by policy makers and messages to the public-10 min)

- A. Enkhjargal, Academy of Medical professionals, NGO (Health impact assessment of air pollution in Ulaanbaatar-10 min)

- L. Delgerzul, UNICEF consultant on NRA (Existing national policy assessment, current research, evidences and data, gaps in health impact studies-10 min)

- G. Gantuya, National committee on reducing environmental pollution (sectoral air pollution related studies as reflected in the National programme for reducing air and environmental pollution, evidences and data, effectiveness of usage, and gaps in knowledge-10 min)

10:00 11:00 Part 2: Science-policy interface and linkages 2a. Interactive panel discussion (30 minutes) Moderator: Prof. Ryan Allen, Simon Fraser University

- Mr. Eric Zusman, Research Director, Center for Sustainability Governance, IGES (Air pollution from perspectives of economic sectors, socio-economic costs and impacts-10 min)

- Dr. D. Dagvadorj, Climate Change and Development Academy, Mongolia (Co-benefit analysis-10 min) - Prof. Kim Mulholland, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (Innovations in science, needs for scientific

evidence and data for policy interventions and advocacy measures-10 min) - Dr.B.Lkhagvadorj Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Sports (S&T national agenda, air pollution

related studies, funding, knowledge transfer and usage for policy making-10 min) 2b. Presentation:

- David Warburton, CHLA (National research agenda: a multi-sectoral approach, structure and contents, management, coordination and governance, linkages with national development policies, financing and partnerships-10 min)

- Prof. Yun Chul Hong, Seoul National University, South Korea - Prof. Tze Wai Wong, Indoor air quality in domestic and commercial kitchens, Chinese University in Hong

Kong) Wrap up of Part 1 and Part 2 and guidance for breakout session

Prof. Ryan Allen, Simon Fraser University

11:00 11:20 Coffee/Tea break

11:20 13:00 Part 3: Breakout group session Facilitator: Acad. B. Burmaajav, Academy of Science Participants are divided into 4 groups

- Group 1: Socio-economics group (Mr. Eric Zusman, IGES, D. Khurelmaa, UNICEF Mongolia, Prof. Kim Mulholland, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Australia, Prof. Yun Chul Hong, Seoul National University)

- Group 2: Health group (D.Davaalkham, SPH, MNUMS, L. Delgerzul, UNICEF consultant on NRA, Prof. David Warburton, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, the USA, Ryan Allen, Simon Frazer University)

- Group 3: Energy, transportation, urban planning, and other infrastructure group Prof. Jay Turner, Washington University in St Louis, the USA, S. Lodoysamba, ADB consultant, G. Gantuya, NCREP)

- Group 4: Environment (Dr.D.Dagvadorj, Climate Change and Development Academy, Dr. Mazrura Sahani, National University of Malaysia, Prof. Tze Wai Wong, Chinese University in Hong Kong)

Key issues for discussion Gaps and feasibility assessment (30 min)

- Sector-specific research needs and gaps in relation to air pollution and health - Research priorities and themes based on sector-specific needs the links between air pollution and health; - Feasibility of carrying out the research in terms of institutional and financial capacity.

National Research Agenda (30 min) - Alignment of proposed research priorities and themes in terms of national development and sector

specific policy imperatives in order to ensure the use of data and scientific evidence for policy decisions; - Proposed implementing agencies, their roles and coordination mechanism; - Possible funding sources and partnership opportunities; - Suggested indicators for monitoring.

While discussing these issues, the group should make notes, compile key points, and upload important and agreed points to the website. Report back from the groups on agreed points and Q&A (30 min) Compile all key points into 1 document (10 min)

13:00 14:00 Lunch

14:00 15:00 Part 4: Formulation of National research programme (moderated by Acad. B. Burmaajav) - Suggested structure, contents, timeline, management and coordination, financing and partnership of the

NRA (L. Delgerzul- 10 min introduction) - Roadmap for developing the NRA (development of new NRA/integration into existing policy documents,

the steps in this process, and the role of UNICEF in its support) (G. Gunbileg, 10 min) - Feedback, voting and agreed structure, contents, timeline, management and coordination mechanism,

financing, partnership and roadmap (25 min)

- Wrap up, final draft document from the parallel session is uploaded to the website (D. Khurelmaa, L. Delgerzul, 15 min)

General summary of the parallel session 2.

1. There is a need for the results of scientific studies to be considered before an intervention is implemented. For example, in one case a vaccination program was carried out without prior research. This failed and a lot of money was wasted.

2. It is important to follow 3 “I” theory. -Idea: ideas must be scientifically based. -Interest: interest must be built change policy via promotion and identification of who has what interest. Implementation GAP -Institution: The best institutional structure must be employed.

3. Coordination is key: it must be multi sectoral, across international and national research communities, across researchers and policy makers.

4. Ownership and coordination of the national body which is responsible for developing, leading and coordinating research agenda. Due to the recent structure, the situation is same as it was 10 years ago.

5. Research to inform policies must be balanced over social groups: for example cohort studies, the implications for different age socioeconomic groups must be considered. Studies should be randomized, focus on novel outcomes. Costing and policy effect simulation must be carried out.

6. Strong links between scientific research and practice must be maintained. For example, planning and monitoring must be based on research and science

7. A further focus on budget is important (specific budget allocation provision). 8. Research capacity, institution capacity and structural capacity must be developed.

We sub grouped into 4 main groups and collected their opinion following theme:

Structure Funding, financing Timeline Suggested indicators

Policy

Research theme, need

After the group work, the following recommendations of actions and activities are summarized as follows. Group 1. Socioeconomic group

To implement this project there is a need for social scientific research and clear links between the science and the actions taken.

• There is a need for Child health research, to encourage decision makers to expedite the decision process. There is also a need

for back casting of the socio-economic implications, along with a system to inform the public see how differences in past and

present air pollution.

• It is important that people be informed of the long term effects. We need to carry out long term Cohort studies for pregnant

woman and children, in particular, demomstrating the effect on cognitive development.

• Cost analysis need to be done for both direct and indirect costs.

• Scenario building and policy simulations need to be carried out with respect to political and behavioural factors.

• Research needs to be action oriented- there is some gap between analysis and research.

• It is very important to have a multi sectoral collaboration.

• Mongolian Academic community should lead the research work. The working group should include UNEP, UNDP, ADB, WHO,

UNICEF.

Group 2. Health group

We need to have a master plan developed by the National Steering Committee. The scientific study results need to be explainable

in common language. The studies must be closely linked with the Sustainable Development Goals. An education program must be

adopted, focusing on secondary schools and adults.

• A Steering Committee is needed (MoH,MECSS,NCER) which must meet annually, with online participation and contribution from international experts. The goal of such a committee will be to develop a master plan which will include the below:

o Longitudinal study of child development. o Cohort study of cancers. o Dissemination of results to policy makers. o Making data accessible (searchable). o Pregnancy outcome studies. o Socio-economic studies. o Cost benefit analysis (insurance, employment, opportunity cost). o Integration and assessment of combined pollutant effects (air, water, diet and nutrition, breast feeding, diabetes). o Studies of lifelong effects. o Air pollution dose response studies. o Research data communication (sharing and coordination), data sharing, implementation of database best practice. o Study into soil pollution contamination. o Intervention and exposure assessment. o Epigenetic studies. o Indoor air quality studies.

o Vehicle emission studies. o CO poisoning studies. o Assessment of combined pollutant effects.

• Communication and education, including an education program at the secondary schools, and programs directed at adults and professionals.

• There is need for a structured strategy, including planning, regulation, allocation, and implementation of budget.

• Integration between national programs and action plans.

• Consideration of combined pollutant effects, indoor air quality, personal exposure.

• Scientific results need to be communicated in understandable language.

• Engagement with the Sustainable Development Goals.

• Political will and motivation. POLICY:

- Eliminate raw coal - A structured coordination of scientific studies on a national level. - Open collaboration with potential candidates - The establishment of collaboration between MOH, MECSS, National Committee on Reducing Environmental pollution. - Accountability, enforcement, prevention of corruption.

BUDGET

- Science and technology fund, Government budget, International organization. - Air pollutant tax, which needs to be allocated to the health impact assessment and research. - Private sector. - Health promotion fund.

INDICATORS

- Air quality. - Health indicators. - Social indicators. - Study results (based on the numbers).

TIMELINE - 1 year.

- 5 years. - 10 years.

Group 3. Energy, Transportation, urban planning and other infrastructure group This group prioritized the future research theme.

1. Source apportionment study. 2. Renewable energy study :

– Current situation and short/mid/ long term opportunities; – Cost impact analysis; – Clean fuel technology.

3. Urban planning. 4. Transport emission reduction assessment.

Group 4. Environment and Climate change group

1. Integrated database to avoid overlapping studies. 2. Source apportionment (Reducing measures, Exposure study). 3. Emission Inventory (Reducing and assessment). 4. Micro-environment exposure, tracking, spatial distribution of pollution (Health study, Pollution level). 5. Vertical, seasonal distribution of Ambient Pollutants (APs) (Determination of AP level). 6. Modeling and forecast\meteorological, geographical, QA\QC\ (Public awareness, Early warning for public) 7. Specific APs studies\heavy metal, VOC, organic, DNA studies (Pollution level, Health studies). 8. Public Awareness, knowledge management.

(The above strategies were suggested by the parallel session participants)

KEY NOTES FROM THE PANEL DISCUSSION

Academic B.Burmaajav made following brief statement: “The financing of scientific research faces certain problems in Mongolia. Last year, under the auspices of the Prime Minister, a conference of scientific workers was organized for the first time. During the conference, scientists appealed to increase financing for scientific projects, and the Prime Minister informed that the budget would be increased. Roughly 0.1% of Mongolian GDP is spent on scientific work, and the allocated amount for health studies is even less”.

Moderated by Ryan Allen.

Representatives from:

- Mr. Eric Zusman, Research Director, Center for Sustainability Governance, IGES - Dr. D. Dagvadorj, Climate Change and Development Academy, Mongolia - Prof. Kim Mulholland, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute - Dr.B.Lkhagvadorj Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Sports

Mr. Eric Zusman: -As is seen from the studies, childhood exposure to air pollution has major lifelong health and economic implications. - Health research is most important. - Unscheduled programs fail. It is vital to do research before starting any program. (Example of a failed Malaria prevention program) - Careful precautionary measures must be taken, air pollution reduction measures must be imptemented and further health problems prevented, in accordance with long term monitoring and evaluation. - Maternal health is the most important area to focus on in this country. -Having banned raw coal, it is important that we consider what those who had been selling raw coal will do. -A 3 “I ” theory was discussed:

-Idea : scientific; -Interest : promotion to change policy, identifying who has what interest, addressing the implementation GAP; -Institution: adopting the best institutional structure

Dr. D. Dagvadorj: - Climate change is a global issue.

- Any problem should be done with scientific evidence. - Scientific sector development is not very high in Mongolia now. - It is good progress for us to be hearing from the scientists. - It is necessary to have an integrated management system for research. - We must take a look at all the previous studies that need to be reviewed again to get future direction.

Prof. Kim Mulholland: There need to have a science based research result before start of any intervention: For example in one case, a vaccination program was started without the research: lots of money was spent, and the program failed. Every city has its own planning to combat air pollution. Beijing completed its first set of plans to reduce pollution in 2017. Developing a program, which defines pollutant sources and the impacts on health, is the first step towards reducing air pollution. Within the framework of the Asian Development Bank project, we have developed a report on improving air quality in Asia. An action plan to improve air quality will be developed for every city individually. For example, in the Philippines, information about collaborative actions, environmental and health risks, and statistical data on budget and spending are made open to the public on the web. Ulaanbaatar is the second out of seven cities to implement the ADB project. The project will be implemented from 2019 to 2021.

“Lung function deficiency among children caused by air pollution has a long term health complications. Studies on health impacts of air pollution can be a valuable part of the solution itself”.

Dr.B.Lkhagvadorj: As we have seen on the presentation, we have a Science Technology Fund which is under the Ministry of

educational culture science and sports. The amount of money spent on air pollution studies is very small. We need to have

independent new structure to develop scientific strategy. Air pollution is a self-created issue in our society, which is also faced by

several major cities in the world as well. The Mongolian Government allocates 12 billion tugrik for scientific research, and numerous

studies have already been carried out. It is time to make united conclusions and analysis from the studies, and to conduct organized

action. The Government has now started paying attention to science.

PARALLEL SESSION #3 Discuss and refine a Communication and Advocacy Strategy

Chair: V. Ganzorig, President, CEO Club, Mongolia

9:20am – 3pm, Wednesday, 30 October

Start End Session Details

09:20 10:00 Opening and brief introduction of the session Part 1: Presentations:

- Prof.Rufus Edwards: Scientific evidence and key messages (10 min) - Zolzaya, National communications consultant (15) - Q&A (15 min)

10:00 11:00 Part 2: Interactive panel discussion (60 minutes) – Moderated by Ganzorig Representatives from:

- Government sector: Gunbileg.L, NCRAEP - Private sector, Dulguun.B, Head of Department, Khan Bank - Parents’ voice- Purevkhuu.Ts, Parents againts smog NGO - Academia-Ulambayar.T, GERES - Youth- Singer Gantogoo.S on youth engagement and participation

11:00 11:20 Coffee/Tea break

11:20 13:00 Part 3: Presentation and case studies on Effective communication by moderator Ganzorig

13:00 14:00 Lunch

14:00 15:00 Breakout group session -Ganzorig will think of key tasks of each group Facilitator: Zolzaya and Gunbileg Participants are divided into 4 groups to identify key stakeholders to run successful communication activities and come up with creative interventions and actions. Group 1: Socially active but unsupportive of air pollution actions Group 2: Socially active and supportive of actions against air pollution

Group 3: Socially inactive but supportive actions against air pollution Group 4: Socially inactive and unsupportive of air pollution actions Participants were asked to work in groups to determine the key stakeholders with the given characteristics. After 15 minutes of discussion groups were able to compil key points and identified key actions to motivate their target groups. A general summary video of the group session was recorded. Summary notes are given below. Report back from the groups on agreed points and Q&A (30 min) Compile all key points into 1 document (10 min)

15:00 15:30 Part 4: Formulation of Communication and Advocacy Strategy

General summary of the parallel session 3. Communication and advocacy strategy on air pollution (Mongolia group two)

Rufus Edwards' report is on the website (http://airpollution-health.unicef.mn/en/resources) which considers reducing the impacts of

air pollution on maternal and child health. Summary – we have a bold message, appealing to the emotions. Highly evidence based -

all research backs up the messages. These messages are simple and clear.

The main audience is UB, but especially those living in the Ger district. We must also target the younger generation. Need for

consistency and constancy in our message, and to keep talking about it during the summer, not just the winter.

Media strategy: 11 TV channels, which account for 17% of watching time, with less than 1000 views each, (essentially, TV is not

highly watched) but social media views really high - we have to be sensitive to this. The average smartphone user scrolls 100m a day,

so we must make use of that opportunity.

Segmentation strategy: Opinion leaders and private sector, politicians and media, etc.

Key themes: Incentives for influencers, active participations, education, and evidence based.

1. There is a general tendency to ignore the importance of preventative actions and activities. A large proportion of the

available communication budget is spent on the consequences of the issues. 2. To combat the air pollution and smog in an urban setting, more efforts should be made to combat the sources of the air

pollution: public education, unemployment, poverty etc. If these issues cannot be solved efficiently, it will be challenging to achieve any significant results.

3. Information sharing and collaboration between government, civil society, citizens and researchers who are actively working to combat air pollution is very weak. This results in an information and knowledge gap between the key stakeholders.

4. In addition to the development of policy papers, the active production and dissemination of substantive, high quality content for public awareness should be more effective.

5. The social groups most adversely affected by air pollution are the most vulnerable. These include elderly people, disabled people, children, pregnant women and lactating mothers, poor and unemployed people. Therefore, the use of resources must be planned effectively for the interests of the public, and the social responsibilities of citizens must be motivated.

6. The openness and transparency of the government, NGOs and international organizations are considered to be inadequate by

the public. This has led to the failure of some important programs and initiatives.

7. In order to create active participation of citizens, all parties should be encouraged to work together, share resources, and work in accordance with common policies, values, and interests.

8. In order to promote ambitious efforts to fight air pollution, campaigns may include public and popular figures.

In society we can generally categorize stakeholders into 4 different subgroups, depending on whether or not they are socially active, and whether or not they are currently taking actions to combat air pollution. After the group work, the following recommendations of actions and activities are summarized as follows. Group 1. Socially active, not supportive of air pollution actions.

To engage this type of group we must provide motivation, in terms of INCENTIVES.

- We must focus on improving the quality of the content produced to raise awareness among general public, while promoting

the wide variety of eco or green products that are available on the market. It is common to see low and middle income

households believing that they cannot afford green products or loans while spending around 300 thousand MNT monthly on

smartphones and second-hand cars. In order to encourage such groups to choose insulation or electric heaters, more green

loan products should be introduced to the market and green loans should be actively promoted by commercial banks.

- Private sectors should undertake subsidy programs for their employees to buy greener products or services, in co-operation

with financial institutions. The possibility of tax returns from the government for such initiatives should be investigated.

- Standards and certification should be established for the heat loss and comfort of private homes, ger district houses and open latrines.

- Establish mutually beneficial collaborations, rewarding Khoroo or Kheseg staff, who are the key informants actively working in ger area.

Group 2. Socially active and participating in actions against air pollution.

To activate this type of group, we must promote their PARTICIPATION

- Train and support air pollution advocates and mentors, in line with air pollution policy.

- Establish an ‘air pollution information platform’ as a tool for information sharing, the use of which will promote participation

among general public.

- Produce very simple, people-group specific information toolkits or leaflets in order to raise awareness of self-protection

measures.

- Use social media, not just as a tool for receiving information, but for the dissemination of verified, evidence-based information.

Group 3. Socially inactive yet supportive of actions against air pollution. The main strategy to engage this group is EDUCATION.

- This group of the society should be provided with quality content and information on air pollution in a systematic and

sustainable manner.

- Make an advocacy campaign “Smog does not distinguish”.

- Make an artistic installation on the street demonstrating healthy and unhealthy respiratory presentation to the public. As well

as informing the public of the relevant air quality statistics, such visual information can be useful.

- Social media must be used at all levels.

- Engage with those in the private sector who are running activities and otherwise contributing to the fight against air pollution.

Explore tax breaks and other incentives for such initiatives. Promote best practices and training for the private sector.

- Work with 399 khoroo staff to train and educate those sectors of society, particularly those in the ger areas who are beyond

the reach of social or traditional media.

Group 4. Socially inactive and unsupportive of air pollution actions. The main strategy to engage this group is RESEARCH.

• Investigate why these groups are not worried about the consequences of air pollution or taking self-protection measures.

This will involve keeping track of scientific research into the public perception of air pollution.

• Identify the location, lifestyle, and behavior of this group.

• Strengthen the awareness of the issue and organize more focus groups involving this group. More research focused

specifically on this social group must be carried out. This will have the aim of raising awareness, and confidence in evidence

based knowledge.

• Assign realistic funding based on survey findings and implement effective monitoring methodology to track the efficiency.

(The above strategies were suggested by the parallel session participants)

KEY NOTES FROM THE PANEL DISCUSSION

Moderated by Ganzorig

Representatives from:

- Government sector: Gunbileg.L, NCREP - Private sector, Dulguun.B, Head of Department, Khan Bank - Parents’ voice- Purevkhuu.Ts, Parents againts smog NGO

- Academia-Ulambayar.T, GERES - Youth- Singer Gantogoo.S on youth engagement and participation

Gunbileg: I only began to understand and act against air pollution when I became a mother. If something is harming your loved

ones, you have no choice but to start doing something about it. Activating such empathetic groups first can be effective.

Dulguun: We grew up in a very clean and healthy environment, which leads us to assume that our children are as healthy as we

were. In reality, our children’s immune system is getting weaker and we all know the harm of the environmental issues, and as

Mongolians should unite on this.

Purevkhuu: After organizing 6 strikes against air and environment pollution we successfully pushed the government to establish a

national committee, of which our NGO became a member. Last year we advocated to allocate 8 billion MNT for children’s health

protection during the winter. Such an initiative was very important for those children who were hospitalized - we wanted to send

them directly to fresh air for few days. The prime minister was supportive, as was the National Committee. What we did not expect

was backfire from the public, who turned against the idea and were constantly shaming our NGO on social media. Our children are

facing the consequences of the failure of the decision makers. Why is the public not taking protection measurements to mitigate the

risks facing the children? After this incident it became almost impossible to ask government to allocate budget on child health

protection measurements.

Gunbileg: In 1997, there was first state budget of on air pollution mitigation activities. During the period of the Clean Air Fund, the

largest budget was allocated. Unfortunately, it did not run smoothly and did not receive public support. In 2019, the Mongolian

government allocated 75.2 billion MNT for fighting against air pollution. Tragically, the Mongolian government does not know how

much of this budget they spent overall. There is no transparent reporting on the process of public procurement, and the citizens do

not ask. That is why we cannot measure how much is being spent and what the key results were. Communication and advocacy

strategies should aim to inform and educate public on the importance monitoring of government spending.

Gantogoo: I am not an expert in this field and I am just representing youth. Young, single people tend to be disengaged from these

social issues and we have the general impression that everybody, working in the government is being bribed and whatever they do is

a failure. Young people are using different communication channels where there is no evidence-based information, such as

Instagram, Tiktok or YouTube channels. If there is no attractive, evidence-based content on their favorite social media, it will

become impossible to reach or engage young people. We also need to work with influencers on social media and to train them to

deliver important messages to their young followers.

Gunbileg: Not every initiative is failing. What we need to encourage as a government is active participation, control and monitoring.

Ulambayar: The government is providing heavy subsidies for actions against air and environmental pollution. I think this is a wrong

strategy. Citizens are becoming too lazy to take their own actions and waiting for the government to give them something free. It is

now time to talk more about public engagement. In the near future, we need to implement a strong ger district standard living and

force the residents to comply. This year’s clean coal initiative was a good test. We need to work systematically to force citizens to

live responsibly in the ger areas. For example: we can start from property registration procedure. If the house you’re living in and

trying to register is not insulated or energy efficient, the state will not register it as a property. We need to investigate such market

based approaches.

Dulguun: Commercial banks are now releasing green loans which are also subsidized by the government. We are trying to promote

such loan products as much as we can. But still there is not a good enough market for them. Our target customers do not meet the

loan requirements or their credit history is very poor. But we will not stop this initiative but will try different approaches to reach the

targeted customers by widening our communication and advertisement channels.

Purevkhuu: We pushed the Mongolian government to make an external audit on the air pollution expenses in the past. It came to

roughly 800 billion MNT, but still most of the financial reports were missing. There has been not enough public participation in the

past and we cannot allow this to continue. Even China failed in public engagement while they were implementing mega projects in

the past. When China was replacing coal with natural gases, most of the households did not know how to use their new equipment.

The same thing happened here recently. I also want to request that international organizations raise more funding for public

awareness and engagement programs. Also, I want them to increase the air pollution budget year by year and prevent it from going

below 100 billion MNT.

Ganzorig: I recently read IRIM’s research on youth participation and the result was very unsatisfactory. Young people are too lazy

and too inactive. They are failing to collaborate and unite against bigger social issues.

Gantogoo: We must invest in our young people first. Today we only talk about Ulaanbaatar’s air pollution. But if we go outside of

UB, every aimag center is covered by heavy smog too. So again, we need to educate children from the beginning. Let’s get this topic

trending. To do that we need more quality content to be disseminated through the right channels.

Gunbileg: Air pollution is the result of unstable government policy and implementation. Since 2017, the situation got better when

the government established the National Committee on Air and Environmental Pollution. Up to 2025, we will need 1 trillion MNT

every year to implement all the necessary actions in the national program on air and environmental pollution. I undertook a survey

to determine public perception of the necessity of the air pollution fund. Interestingly, people were supportive of shutting it down.

In the last 3 years, the national committee have implemented many successful actions to reduce the air pollution level in

Ulaanbaatar city. Unfortunately, our actions and activities have not been well received by general public. That’s why it’s very

important to have a national communication and advocacy strategy to engage general public to make them a part of these

enormous efforts.

The following concluding remarks were made:

• If we successfully unite and move forward to combat air pollution, we’ll be able to beat it in 3-5 years;

• Active participation of youth is necessary;

• Use of channels for public outreach should be selective based on effectiveness. Traditional methods, especially the channels

that the government is using have become ineffective.

• The policy advocacy is necessary for the government and the government must build its capacities to disseminate

information.

• The government must have scientifically proven evidences, data and messages in a simple language.

Actions to be undertaken:

The NCREP will collaborate with UNICEF to develop and approve the Communication and Advocacy Strategy.