Press releases
Bangkok Dispatch: Seeking Clean Asian Air
By Andrew C. Revkin
Lee Schipper, a specialist on cities, transportation and pollution diving time between Stanford and Berkeley, is a frequent presence on Dot Earth and a source for me when pondering how the world heads toward nine billion mainly-urban humans with the fewest traffic jams and smog alerts. He sent the following note from a conference in Bangkok on cleaning the air in Asian cities. You may have seen the news on Asia’s growing brown clouds this week.
Postcard from Better Air Quality ‘08:
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Asia must continue to find resources to fight air pollution, climate change
MANILA, PHILIPPINES (12 November 2008) – Asia must continue to mobilize resources to cut air pollution and address climate change despite financing pressures caused by the global economic crisis, said Asia Development Bank (ADB) Vice-President Ursula Schäfer-Preuss.
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China Making Progress On ‘Cleaner Coal’
BANGKOK, THAILAND, November 14, 2008: Although China has many inefficient and polluting coal-fired power plants, it is taking large strides in adopting cleaner coal technologies when constructing coal-fired plants.
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Better Quality Lights Can Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions Significantly
BANGKOK, THAILAND, November 14, 2008: Some of the world’s largest lighting companies have joined forces in a bid to improve standards for energy-saving compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) in the Asian market.
Companies like Philips, OSRAM, General Electric and Havells-Sylvania say consumers could be disappointed by inefficient and low-quality CFLs, which produce less light or burn out relatively quickly.
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Vietnam Shows Way with Energy-Efficient Vertical Shaft Brick Kilns
BANGKOK, THAILAND, November 14, 2008: Vietnam is showing the way in replacing highly polluting brick kilns with more energy efficient and far less polluting kilns.
In the past two years alone, Vietnam has succeeded in encouraging many brick kiln operators to shift to the energy efficient vertical shaft brick kiln (VSBK) from the polluting Bull’s trench kiln (BTK) even though the vertical shaft model is two to three times more expensive to build.
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Electric bikes offer hope as number of polluting motorbikes rises
BANGKOK, THAILAND, November 14, 2008: The electric-powered bicycle, or e-bike, is enjoying explosive growth in China, with numbers jumping from 10 million in 2005 to over 20 million in 2007, according to figures compiled by the Clean Air Initiative-Asia (CAI-Asia).
“E-bikes are good for the environment as they have much less impact on air quality and produce far less greenhouse gases than motorized two-wheelers,” said Cornie Huizenga, executive director of the CAI-Asia Center.
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Global Financial Woes Slow Construction of New Coal Plants in Asia
BANGKOK, THAILAND, November 14, 2008: The global financial crisis is good news and bad news for the environment.
The good news is that the world economic slowdown is expected to force Asian countries to put on hold some plans to construct coal-fired power plants – which means a lot less carbon dioxide emissions to cause air pollution and climate change.
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More Cities in Asia Monitoring Tinier Polluting Particles
BANGKOK, THAILAND, November 14, 2008: Asian cities are increasingly monitoring tiny polluting particles known at PM 2.5, or particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns, as more evidence emerges that the smaller particles pose more danger to health than the large particles.
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Twelve More Asian Cities Sign Kyoto Declaration to Promote environmentally sustainable transport
BANGKOK, Thailand, November 14, 2008 – Twelve more Asian cities signed the Kyoto Declaration to promote environmentally sustainable transport in Asia during the Better Air Quality (BAQ) 2008 workshop in Bangkok.
The latest cities to endorse the campaign are Bangkok (Thailand), Baguio (Philippines), Cebu (Philippines), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Batam (Indonesia), Guwahati (India), Karachi (Pakistan), Kathmandu (Nepal), Makassar (Indonesia), Makati (Philippines), Palembang (Indonesia), and Surat (India).
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Changing of the Guard at CAI-Asia Center – Strategy to Focus More on Private Sector and General Public
BANGKOK, THAILAND, November 14, 2008: In its drive to improve Asia’s air quality, the Clean Air Initiative-Asia (CAI-Asia)’s strategic directions will include enlisting more support from the private sector and general public, said Sophie Punte, the new executive director of the CAI-Asia Center, during the Better Air Quality (BAQ) 2008 workshop in Bangkok.
Ms. Punte previously worked for the United Nations Environment Programme in Bangkok. She led an energy efficiency and climate change project for Asian industry, working with partner organizations in nine countries.
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Thailand Moves Toward A More Integrated Approach In Addressing Climate Change and Urban Air Quality
BANGKOK, THAILAND, November 14, 2008: Thailand is increasingly addressing problems of air quality in tandem with those of climate change, recognizing the “co-benefits” of such an approach, said Supat Wangwongwatana, director-general of Thailand’s Pollution Control Department (PCD) at the Better Air Quality (BAQ) 2008 workshop.
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“Excluded” Cyclists and Pedestrians Demand Fairer Share of the Road
BANGKOK, THAILAND, November 13, 2008: Eight out of 10 students in Hsinchu Technopolis – the Silicon Valley of Taipei,China -- have a bicycle. But, for the short distance to school, half the students travel by car or motorcycle, while the other half walk or bike.
In contrast, most children walked or cycled to school 30 years ago. The proportion of those who walk or bike has shrunk partly because, “with increasing road traffic, many parents are concerned that walking and cycling are unsafe,” said Hsin-Wen Chang, an assistant professor at Chung Hua University.
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First Coordinated Asian Multi-City Study of Air Pollution and Health finds Aging Asian Populations at Risk
Effects Consistent With Studies in Developed Countries
BANGKOK, THAILAND, November 13, 2008: A first-of-its-kind rigorous multi-city study of the effects of air pollution and health in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Wuhan has found significant mortality effects of acute exposure to urban air pollution, according to a report published in the journal Environmental Health Perspective and released at the Better Air Quality (BAQ) workshop yesterday.
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A Road Map Launched for Cleaner Fuels and Vehicles in Asia
MANILA, PHILIPPINES (12 November 2008) – Developing countries in Asia should raise their vehicle emission standards to the levels of Japan, Europe and USA as emissions from cars are expected to increase over the next few decades, threatening public health and quality of life for urban population, according to a report funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
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Asia’s City Planners Could Emulate Singapore’s Integrated Land Use and Public Transport System
BANGKOK, THAILAND, November 12, 2008: Asia’s rapidly growing cities need to follow the models of Singapore, as well as some European cities, in developing integrated and sustainable public transport systems. They also need to include land use planning so that people can travel more easily and affordably to offices, schools or entertainment areas.
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ASIA’S AIR QUALITY IMPROVING, BUT STILL FAILS TO REACH WHO STANDARDS, SAYS NEW CAI-ASIA CENTER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
BANGKOK, THAILAND, November 12, 2008: Although air quality in Asian cities has been improving, the level of most pollutants is still above the guideline values of the World Health Organization, said Sophie Punte, incoming executive director for CAI-Asia Center, at the opening session of Better Air Quality (BAQ) 2008 today.
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Beijing’s Shi Han Min wins award for improving air quality for Olympic Games – and well beyond
BANGKOK, THAILAND. November 12, 2008: Shi Han Min, director of Beijing’s Environmental Protection Bureau which led the effort to clean up the capital’s air for the 2008 Olympic Games, today became the first winner of the Kong Ha Award for excellence in air quality management.
Presentation of the award -- named after the chairperson of Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities who died unexpectedly in April 2007 – was made during the opening session of the Better Air Quality (BAQ) 2008 workshop in Bangkok.
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Street-level pollution worse than expected -- and deteriorating – in Asian cities, say scientists
BANGKOK, November 10, 2009: The health of roadside dwellers and commuters is likely more at risk from air pollutants than was previously believed, according to a group of international scientists at the Better Air Quality (BAQ) 2008 workshop being held in Bangkok this week.
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Air Quality Workshop to Take up Climate Change Mitigation and Scale up Solutions for Asia’s Cities
MANILA, 3 November, 2008:. Asia now has an estimated 2,500 cities with populations of over 100,000 – yet less than 20% of the cities are monitoring air quality and fewer are taking action to reduce air pollution.
At the same time, the enormous global attention on climate change, intensified by the recent Beijing Olympic Games, is increasing pressure on the big air polluters -- energy, transport and industrial sources -- to curb air pollution and the emission of greenhouse gases .
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The Signing Ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Hosting of Better Air Quality Workshop 2008 (BAQ 2008)
Mr. Apirak Kosayodhin, Governor of Bangkok, announces that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) together with the Pollution Control Department and the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia) Center will host the Better Air Quality (BAQ 2008) Workshop. 12 – 14 November 2008 at the Imperial Queens Park Hotel in Bangkok. The theme of the event is “Air Quality and Climate Change: Scaling up Win – Win Solutions for Asia”.
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