MANILA, 21 December 2005 - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has recently approved a US$655,000 regional technical assistance project to help Asian cities and countries reduce air pollution by promoting the mainstreaming of air quality management in policies and programs of its Developing Member Countries. The Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia) will help implement the project through its ADB-based Secretariat. The Project is funded on a grant basis by the Government of Finland.
The project aims to contribute towards improving or stabilizing air pollution levels in major Asian cities. In some cases, it is expected that some cities will see an actual reduction in air pollution levels for specific air pollutants. An important aim of this project is the mainstreaming of AQM issues within ADB by developing a pipeline of AQM projects for ADB and other development institutions. Key activities include:
(i) benchmarking AQM capability in Asian cities;
(ii) contributing towards the establishment of the Environmental Knowledge Hub (EKH) in cooperation with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP);
(iii) developing or updating AQM strategies in partnership with local CAI-Asia networks;
(iv) facililtating policy dialogue on AQM; and
(v) mainstreaming AQM in the country strategies, lending operations, and non-lending operations of ADB and other development agencies.
The Project will help CAI-Asia in establishing and strengthening its local networks in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam to take a more proactive role in awareness raising, capacity building and AQM policy development.
The project officially begins in December 2005 and will run for 18 months. Coincidentally, the approval of this project was made during the 39th anniversary of ADB (December 19).
Contact Persons:
David McCauley,
Senior Environment Economist
Environment and Social Safeguard Division
Regional and Sustainable Development Department
Asian Development Bank
dmccauley@adb.org
Cornie Huizenga
Head of Secretariat
Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia)
Asian Development Bank
chuizenga@adb.org
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