Funding in Asia

Air pollution is an acute regional challenge in South Asia. In many major cities, more than 50% of air pollution comes from transboundary sources, carried by prevailing wind patterns. This is particularly prominent in the Indo-Gangetic Plain and Himalayan Foothills (IGP-HF), where air pollution originates from a variety of sectors that fall under different ministries and departments across the five IGP-HF countries (India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Bhutan). These sectors are also major sources of black carbon emissions, which directly impact ice loss and glacier melt across the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau (among several other vulnerable cryosphere regions). With almost one billion people depending on glacier-fed rivers in South Asia, reducing black carbon emissions is a major, but underutilised, opportunity for climate and health gains.

To address this, the World Bank is providing catalytic financing focused on the institutional capabilities and systems to address air quality by working with governments and various stakeholders. Other donors include: the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office through the Resilient Asia Program (RAP);lxxxi the Swiss Development Cooperation – also through RAP, including recipient-executed grants for Nepal and India (Haryana); and Open Philanthropy via the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). Priority actions include:

Assisting IGP-HF states and countries to design and finance foundational air quality management programmes;

• Mobilising concessional finance for public good benefits through incremental donor funds and direct co-financing from other bilateral or multilateral development finance institutions; and

• Providing technical advisory support for evidence-based airshed management and IGP-HF airshed cooperation.

Initial progress includes the approval of the Uttar Pradesh Clean Air Management Authority, a special purpose vehicle established to execute the Uttar Pradesh Clean Air Management Project (UPCAMP). Within UPCAMP, the government of Uttar Pradesh has established its own clean air plan, making it the first Indian state to do so. An equivalent programme has also been set up in Haryana. This programme is an example of how multi-donor, cross-sectoral and regional approaches can reduce air pollution, particularly where the problem is transboundary. The World Bank’s flagship report Strive for Clean Air: Air Pollution and Public Health in South Asia found that coordinated regional action can be 45% less expensive than uncoordinated, ad hoc measures.

The World Bank South Asia Region and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development are hosting a series of key science policy dialogues to promote regional collaboration on air quality planning across the wider airshed of the IGP-HF region. Convening government representatives, scientists and development and financing partners, the dialogues have recognised the need for an approach based on scientific targets, common methodologies and regional coordination of policy assessment. These sentiments are supported by the Thimphu Outcome reached at the most recent dialogue, which aims to establish technical committees and working groups, share scientific knowledge and information, leverage funding in key sectors to reduce pollution, and continue to share capacity with relevant air quality agencies in the region.