The main source of air pollution in Ulaanbaatar is mainly related to the fact that households living in ger areas burn fuel for     heating in winter. Thus, air pollution level increases sharply in winter. “Switch Off Air Pollution” is a 4-year project started in     2018, with the aim to contribute in tackling the air pollution in Ulaanbaatar city through improving energy efficiency of the individual houses in the ger areas.

In the meeting, Delegation of the European Union to Mongolia, the French Embassy, the Czech Embassy, Embassy of Germany, Asian Development Bank,  Ministry of Construction and Urban Development, Ministry of Environment and Tourism, the Ulaanbaatar City Governor's Office, National Air Pollution Committee, XacBank, KhanBank, Transcapital NBFI, Mongolian Sustainable Finance Association, UNICEF, GIZ, World Vision Mongolia INGO, Mongolian Red Cross Society, World Bank's Ulaanbaatar Clean Air Additional Financing Project, Mongolian Women's Foundation, project Implementing Partners, project brigades and suppliers participated and discussed about the project achievements, challenges and future plan. 

Opening the meeting, Beatriz Maroto Izquierdo, Country Director of Geres INGO, lead implementer of the project emphasized that “Despite the difficult situation with the Covid-19 pandemic, the project is being implemented successfully”. During the opening remarks, H.E. Mr. Sébastien Surun , Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the French Republic to Mongolia said that “I am grateful that this project against air pollution addresses environmental, economic and social factors together.” Mr. Josef Kostiha, Deputy Head of Mission of the Czech Republic in Mongolia highlighted that "I am grateful for the funding and support of this project, which protects the right of people to breathe fresh air and creates innovative insulation solutions."

Mr. Pierre-Yves Lucas, Cooperation team leader of EU Delegation to Mongolia, noted that the project, which started in 2018 with the aim to contribute in tackling the air pollution in Ulaanbaatar city through improving energy efficiency of the individual houses in the ger areas has achieved many milestones in the past.

During the meeting, the project implementing partners provided information on the activities organized and the results of the project including regular training for project MSMEs, community response feedback mechanism implementation, insulation solution manual, improved testing of Veranda pilot and “Simple solution” campaign.

Participants of the meeting provided suggestions and received answers to their questions, and Beatriz Maroto Izquierdo, Country Director of Geres INGO expressed appreciation to the project team, partners and financiers for their continuous support and collaboration.

About Switch Off Air Pollution: 

Co-financed by the European Union under the Switch Asia programme, with additional support from Abbe Pierre Foundation, Czech Development Agency and the French Development Agency; the Switch Off Air Pollution project is being implemented by Geres Mongolia, in collaboration with Building Energy Efficiency Center of the Mongolian University of Science and Technology,  Mongolian National Construction Association and People in Need INGO during the 2018-2021 period. 

Project website - www.dulaalga.mn

Contact

If you have additional media inquiries, please contact Sunjidmaa.Ts, Geres Mongolia:

 +976-75052000 and s.tserenpil@geres.eu