East Asia Air Quality Management Program: A Regional Approach to Improving Air Quality and Promoting Green Growth

Project Summary:

This grant seeks to improve Air Quality Management (AQM) across the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region, with a focus on Lao PDR, the Philippines, and Indonesia (Jakarta).  It is designed to reduce health risks and greenhouse gas emissions, support the preparation of World Bank lending operations, and leverage Korean expertise and institutions — including KEITI, KECO, and Konkuk University — to share best practices in pollution monitoring and abatement.

It is organized around five activity areas:

• In Lao PDR, the focus is on identifying solutions to air pollution from agricultural practices, particularly crop residue burning.
• In the Philippines, the program will strengthen national AQM frameworks, map pollution hotspots, and recommend priority policy interventions.
• In Jakarta, Indonesia, it will analyze sources and impacts of urban air pollution to inform an ongoing World Bank competitiveness project.
• At the regional level, the program will address transboundary air pollution and support mechanisms such as the ASEAN Haze Agreement.
• A knowledge management component will facilitate peer-to-peer learning, thematic workshops, and study tours to Korea and China.

This grant is aligned as follows:

• The Lao Environment and Waste Management Project (EWMP) (P175996, under preparation, US$38M IDA), which includes support to investments and strengthening institutional capacity for improving AQM in Lao PDR.  
• The Lao Smallholder Green Agriculture Competitiveness Project (P179146).  
• The “Aligning Climate Change and Development in the Philippines” PASA (P179219).  
• The Enhancing Environmental Management for Indonesia’s Competitiveness Project (P180118) which, among others, will strengthen environmental monitoring in the country, with a specific objective to improve real-time online monitoring systems for integrating air and water quality monitoring data.

Collaboration with K-Partners and Others:

• Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute (KEITI)
• Korea Environment Corporation (KECO)
• Kyungee University
• Climate and Clean Air Coalition
• Relevant Development Partners and NGOs (WHO, UNEP, ADB, USAID, WRI, Vital Strategies)
• ASEAN Secretariat / ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Transboundary Haze Pollution Control