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"Partnering Cities for Clean Air"

Opening Remarks
by
Thomas Crouch
Country Director, Philippines Country Office

Asian Development Bank
ADB Auditorium A, Manila, Philippines
15 December 2005

Development partners and collaborators.

It is my pleasure to welcome you to Asian Development Bank, as we host today's important event. It is highly encouraging to see such a large group of mayors and other municipal officials from throughout the Philippines, as well as other stakeholders. This emphasizes the priority you assign to this issue. We gather here to learn from each other about successful ways deal to with one of our most pressing urban issues: air pollution and its consequences.

I will address several matters: the importance of partnerships and champions; the costs to us all of dirty air; and the sorts of solutions that are available.

Partnerships and Champions for Clean Air

The Philippines Partnership for Clean Air (PCA), and this meeting, are key elements which operationalize the shared responsibility and joint accountability for solving the problem of dirty air. The array of stakeholders includes public agencies and all levels of government (especially the city constituencies represented here today); private business; civil society groups; academe; private citizens; and development partners such as ADB and USAID. We must all link hands in this most important endeavor. Elsewhere in Asia, ADB supports similar initiatives like the Clean Air Initiative (CAI) for Asian Cities, which will be discussed by one of the later speakers. PCA serves as CAI-Asia's local network in the Philippines, and similar groups already have been established in the People's Republic of China, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Viet Nam.

Under the Local Government Code (1991), local governments (including cities) are delegated significant responsibilities. The decentralized framework for decision-making and management ensures that local chief executives (mayors) have a critical role to play in initiatives such as improving the environment. The communities will increasingly look to mayors to champion the cause of cleaner air and bluer skies. The Cost of Dirty Air

Nearly all cities in Asia face air quality problems, and the costs are enormous. Former environment secretary Elisea Gozun just mentioned the recent Readers Digest article "Dirty Air is Killing Asian Children"; and Daniel Moore of USAID referred to the fact that dirty air is perhaps a graver, more persistent threat than terrorism. Dirty air is an insidious foe. It is estimated that each year in this region 500,000 persons die prematurely due to exposure to polluted air. Here in the Philippines, a 2001 World Bank study estimated that the annual health cost of particulate matter pollution in four Philippine cities was $400 million. In 2002, a joint ADB-WHO study estimated that air pollution in Metro Manila annually causes 10,000 excess cases of acute bronchitis, 300 excess cases of asthma, between 40 and 200 excess cardiovascular disease deaths, and between 300 and 330 excess respiratory deaths. Thousands of productive work days are lost each year due to absenteeism caused by health problems associated with poor air quality.

These are sobering statistics, highlighting the social and economic costs of a dirty environment.

Solutions

Establishing urban transportation systems that are sustainable and environmentally appropriate is one the highest priorities for cities across Asia, including here in the Philippines. Motor vehicles are major air pollution contributors, with motorcycles and tricycles particularly high offenders and comprising nearly 40% of the Philippine vehicle fleet. More environmentally friendly options include converting motor vehicles to cleaner fuels or engines, improving public transport systems, restoring the importance of non-motorized transport by constructing bikeways and making cities more pedestrian-friendly. The experience of cities which have initiated programs to encourage pedestrian traffic is that this pays off in terms of more business for shop owners. Here in Metro Manila, the Ayala Center in Makati City has an elevated network of pedestrian walkways that passes through buildings and malls and is linked to the MRT station, providing better access to shoppers and commuters alike. Due to heavy pedestrian traffic, new business establishments have sprouted in the area surrounding the metro stations. This last point highlights the fact that there are positive, early financial returns to steps taken to improve air quality: this is a key ingredient contributing to getting the necessary "buy-in" from stakeholders.

Some City-Level Initiatives Supported by ADB

ADB is an active partner in dealing with the Philippines' urban air quality problems. For example, the Metro Manila Air Quality Improvement Sector Development Program is a comprehensive effort to reduce pollution from both mobile and stationary sources in the Metro Manila airshed. It covers a large array of activities, including:

• a motor vehicle inspection system (involving public-private partnerships),
• an industrial air emissions pollution abatement program,
• production of clean fuels,
• introduction of anti-pollution devices,
• a traffic management and road rehabilitation program,
• a new system for ambient air quality monitoring,
• public awareness programs, and
• institutional development.

The variety of activities illustrates how broad the problem is; significantly, though, it also shows the great opportunities to do something. It is not a lost cause.

ADB also has financed a study on the political, economic, social and technological dimensions of "Air and Noise Pollution Reduction from Tricycles" in Quezon City and Puerto Princesa. Just last month we approved a pilot program to provide alternative livelihoods to displaced tricycle operators in Puerto Princesa. We hope this program will strengthen the technical and entrepreneurial knowledge base of tricycle operators and drivers while also supporting the engine upgrading of those tricycles that remain in operation.

Over 30 cities in Asia have introduced Bus-Rapid Transit-or BRT-Systems or are considering their use. BRT uses buses to ply a dedicated lane-usually along an existing major road or highway. Studies show that BRT is considerably cheaper to build than rail-based public transport, that it can be profitably operated by bus owners, and that it can provide a relatively inexpensive option for commuters. This again highlights the importance of the incentive framework for obtaining "buy-in" from stakeholders. Here, bus operators can expect to operate profitably; while commuters can expect reliable service at an affordable price. Earlier this year, ADB joined forces with PCA, the Department of Transportation and Communications, Metro Manila Development Authority, CAI-Asia, World Bank and the USAID Energy and Clean Air Program to help establish an informal working group to discuss the prospects for setting up a BRT pilot project in Metro Manila. Many of those here involved attended a BRT Workshop for Metro Manila held last month at ADB and organized with the support of the United Nations Centre for Research and Development, CAI-Asia, and GTZ. The pre-feasibility study for the Manila pilot BRT is expected to commence early next year. Elena Bautista, Chair, Land Transportation, Franchising and Regulatory Board, will give us a presentation on the BRT.

These are but a few initiatives we can employ. It is clear that there are many good options available to cities as they work to provide clean air and a better quality of life to their citizens.

ADB looks forward to intensifying its valuable partnership with you to ensure we move more rapidly from dialogue and discussion of best practices to implementation and achieving actual outcomes in terms of cleaner air and bluer skies in all urban areas of the Philippines.

Together we must do it. Together we can do it. Together we will do it.

Thank you.