Working (or sighing) for clean air in the cities

MANILA, Philippines – The air quality in Metro Manila, according to data gathered by the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia), has improved in terms of the Total Suspended Particulates (TSP) level, a 15-percent reduction from 2004 to 2008. The metropolis is less dirty than the more progressive cities of Shanghai and Jakarta as of the 2003 report.

The Department of Health and the Environment Management Bureau also both found a downward trend from 2003 through 2007 in terms of bronchitis morbidity and air pollution.

Can these figures make us breathe easy as we look out from skyscrapers in Ayala or Ortigas and view a panorama of progress smudged and grey? Truth is, the Philippines is still short of the standard for a country’s TSP and exceeds the World Health Organization’s guideline limits.

Air quality in Asian cities remains the region’s black mark in the light of urban population growth, health profile, and climate change. Half-a-million people die prematurely in Asia every year due to air pollution with millions more suffering from respiratory illnesses, according to WHO, that the health cost to Philippine cities alone is half a billion dollars a year. In the country, urban dwelling is also forecast to grow from about 50 percent in 2005 to 80 percent in 2035, leading partly to a five-time vehicle increase within the same period, and a worse impact on cities.

International institutions like the United Nations, Asian Development Bank, and European partners, are encouraging stakeholder organizations to arrest the further decline of air quality and its contributions to climate change. Government, non-government organizations and the whole civil society, are at fever pitch to clean the air, tactically nearing the Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen and the Better Air Quality conference in Beijing July next year.

“We have to look seriously at the interlinked issues of air pollution and climate change, which both share same sources of toxic chemicals, through integrated policies and projects,” says Sophie Punte, executive director of the Manila-based CAI-Asia Center.

During the Clean Air Month (November), its country partner, Partnership for Clean Air (PCA), gathered all stakeholders to learn more, share experiences, discuss challenges in the cleaning of the air, embracing the theme Ligtas Hangin (Save the Air). “We share one common right to breathe clean and healthy air,” rationalizes Vicky Segovia, executive director of PCA.

Two main events in the month-long observance are the Forum on Greening the Tran-sport Sector (led by the Department of Transportation and Communications) and the Clean Air 10, a review of the 10 years of the landmark law and visioning (led by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources).

Environmental urban transport

There is no question that transport is the leading and direct contributor to air pollution in the cities. Motor vehicles emit toxic chemicals like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur, and benzene.

Specific issues include emissions from two-stroke tricycles, smoke belching from all forms of motor vehicles, heavy dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels.

CAI-Asia programs seek to bring together organizations and experts to address air quality management and sustainable urban transportation, the flag-ships being the Air Quality Management (AQM) and the ADB/Sida-funded Sustainable Urban Mobility in Asia (SUMA) programs both of which cover the range from building know-ledge and capacity to on-the ground measures.

The SUMA program works with Asian countries and cities to strengthen sustainable urban transport policies to reduce traffic congestion, improve mobility and road safety, mitigate transport’s contribution to air pollution, and tackle the issue of climate change. A resulting National Environmental Sustainable Transport (EST) Strategy has been put in place in the country with DOTC as the lead government agency guided by two overall goals. One is the reduction of the annual growth rate of energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions from the urban transport sector. The other is the mainstreaming of EST by promoting transportation systems of low carbon intensity and shift to the use of more sustainable transport modes.

In a recent forum on greening the transport sector, DOTC and its partners such as the UP National Center for Transport Studies recognized four cities for outstanding work in building environmentally sustainable transport (BEST). DOTC Secretary Leandro Mendoza handed the first BEST awards, still on pilot run, to the cities of Marikina; San Fernando, La Union; Cebu; and Cagayan de Oro.

“We hope the BEST award will encourage as many cities in the country to adopt the EST framework,” Mendoza said.

The four cities were cited for overall BEST practices, with some single practices such as the bikeways project in Marikina; the tricycle conversion from two-stroke to four-stroke engine in San Fernando, La Union; the Bus Rapid Transit as mass transport mode in metro Cebu; the creation of the comprehensive roads and traffic administration in Cagayan de Oro.

Philippine clean air law

In commemorating the tenth year of the law, stakeholders assessed how far they have gone with the landmark legislation.

DENR Secretary Lito Atienza has earlier expressed that by re-assessment, “we can learn from past oversights and create a practical and doable roadmap for us to move forward in realizing our goals of a cleaner and safer environment.”

There are at least 10 things to celebrate in the 10 years of the law, the lead organizations agree: the Bio-fuels Act, the Renewable Energy Act, cleaner gasoline through lowering of the sulfur content of diesel and the benzene and aromatics of gasoline, Marikina bikeways, unleaded fuel, promotion of electric tricycles in Fort Bonifacio and electric jeepneys in Makati, smoke- free ordinances, anti-smoke belching efforts of LGUs, wind power in Ilocos, biomass use by Philippine industries, LPG taxis, the replacement of two-stroke by four-stroke tricycles in San Fernando (La Union) and Mandaluyong, and the Clean Air 10 Declaration.

Moving forward, forum participants came up with specific proposals for the CA law implementation. These include improved vehicular route management, nationwide activation of Air Shed Governing Boards which administer the Air Quality Monitoring Fund, development of environment-friendly technologies, a template ordinance for the creation of Environment and Natural Resources Officers (ENROs), still a non-mandatory position despite a provision for such in the Local Government Code, and media/advocacy support.

The workshop outputs will be used as inputs to the Better Air Quality Plan of the government which is updated bi-annually and to be presented at the air quality conference in Beijing next year. –Erlie Lopez (The Philippine Star)