Promoting Equitable Access to Sustainable Development in Bolivia and Mexico

Project Summary:

With this Korea Green Growth Trust Fund (KGGTF) grant, Government of Bolivia and Mexico planned to work with and learn from each other. The Government of Bolivia aimed to reduce environmental pollution and resource scarcity that disproportionately affects the poor, including air pollution, a lack of fresh water and sanitation service, lead exposure, inadequate waste disposal, and minimal climate resilience strategy. On a broader scale, the Government of Bolivia has requested a climate change development policy loan from the World Bank. This project helped create and implement policy reforms that contribute to inclusive green growth, including issues related to air pollution, water and sanitation services, and greenhouse gas emissions. Bolivia also aimed to conduct additional capacity building and analysis related to environmental management and climate change. Mexico had requested similar funding from the World Bank to further its climate change mitigation, adaptation, and resiliency efforts. To that end, this project would fund critical components of larger efforts in both countries and the region.

List of Activities:

• Clean Growth - Addressing air, water and soil contamination
  - identify investment alternatives to control water pollution from point and non-point courses
  - identify, typify and prioritize contaminated sites, particularly from industrial activities in urban area, and determine their liability for remediation purposes.
  - control outdoor air pollution, taking into account investments such as vehicle inspection and homologation centers in key polluted cities.
  - reduce incidence of floods by preventing obstruction of drainage systems by inadequate deposition of solid waste.
  - this activity supported Government of Bolivia on cost-benefit and costs-effectiveness analyses of prospective interventions in all four areas above mentioned; training of public officials on the methodologies of such analytical work and best practices to implement the recommended interventions; and, technical visits and workshops to share experiences with other countries that have implemented similar interventions.
• The analytical work provided inputs to the studies envisaged for Bolivia to identify investment alternatives to control air pollution
• Resilient and Efficient Green Growth
  - analytical work and capacity building activities (e.g. training, technical visits, system design, among other) to support the GoB identifying interventions aimed at increasing agricultural productivity by the adoption of new technologies to save energy and water (i.e. Programa Cosechando vida, Sembrando Luz; and Plan Estratégico de Ahorro y Eficiencia Energética).
  - support the GoM in assessing alternatives to eliminate remaining subsidies (for electricity and natural gas), as well as to strengthen the existing carbon tax. The analytical pieces of this sub-component will be shared with the GoB as part of the prospective policy reforms to promote energy and water use efficiency.
• Inclusive Growth – Building citizen-driven demand for good environmental governance
  - identify interventions to promote an informed public participation in Bolivia’s environmental quality management, by strengthening capacities for effective environmental monitoring
  - assist the GoB developing investment plan

Outcomes:

Output 1:

• 1.1. Identification of cost-effective interventions to control of water pollution from point and non-point sources; 
• 1.2. Identification, characterization and prioritization of contaminated sites, particularly from industrial activities in urban areas, and determination of their liability for remediation purposes;  
• 1.3. Identification of cost-effective interventions to control of outdoor air pollution, taking into account investments such as vehicle inspection and homologation centers in key polluted cities;  
• 1.4. Identification of cost-effective interventions to prevent of the obstruction of drainage systems by inadequate deposition of solid waste. 
• 1.5. Identificatin of interventions to tackle short-lived climate pollutants for Mexico

Output 2:

• 2.1 Identification of investments to strengthen schemes that promote efficient use of water and energy, especially rural areas and other vulnerable zones where water scarcity has been exacerbated as result of climate change.  
• 2.2 Hackathon carried out in La Paz to engage with technology community on possible ICT tools to promote water and energy efficiency. 
• 2.3 Economic and distributional analysis of carbon and energy pricing alternatives for Mexico

Output 3:

• 3.1 Development with client of Environmental Quality Guidelines;  
• 3.2 Feasibility study of priority interventions air and water monitoring in three major cities. 
• 3.3 Improvement of the National Environmental Information System (SNIA) to properly collect, store and share environmental quality information generated by various agencies at the national and local levels;  
• 3.4 Creation of public participation platforms under SNIA to disseminate environmental quality information and facilitate public participation in environmental quality management. 
• 3.5 Hackathon carried out in La Paz to engage with technology community on possible ICT tools to improve environmental monitoring and citizen engagement in environmental management issues.

Output 4:

• 4.1 Facilitation of exchange of best practices 
• 4.2 Dissemination of best practices

Outcomes:

The proposed activities supported the GoB in identifying investments with the following expected outcomes: (i) improved environmental quality conditions, mainly from controlling air, water and soil contamination that mostly affect the poor; (ii) greater resilience, particularly as Bolivia could face significant water scarcity problems as a result of climate change and the associated reduction of snow and glaciers; (iii) increased competitiveness, as a result of increased innovation in technologies for water and energy efficiency and climate change adaptation; and, (iv) enhanced environmental governance, by providing reliable information and other mechanisms – especially through ICT tools – for public participation in the country’s environmental management. Also, the proposed activities will support the GoM in identifying investments with the following expected outcomes: (i) improved environmental air quality conditions by tackling SLCPs; and, (ii) increased competitiveness, as a result of alternative interventions to eliminate remaining subsidies (for electricity and natural gas), as well as to strengthen the existing carbon tax.

Collaboration with K-Partners and Others:

WBG internal partners: coordination by multi-sectoral team with members from the Water; Environment; Energy; Urban, Rural & Social Development; Agriculture; Poverty and MFM Global Practices, and the Climate Change CCSA.

K-Partners: Ministry of Environment, with the participation of the National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) and the Korean Environment Corporation (KECO) in developing Korea’s environmental management systems to be shared.

Other potential partners: Korea Environment Institute (KEI); Korea Energy Management Agency KEMCO, particularly the New & Renewable Energy Center (NREC); Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-Water); Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFDA), Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MoLIT), and Sudokwan Landfill Site Management Corporation (SLC).
Other external partners: The Ministry of Development Planning (MDP) and the Ministry of Environment and Water of Bolivia (MMAyA) in Bolivia; SEMARNAT and National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change and the Ministry of Finance in Mexico.