Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities Center 2008 Annual Report

The 2008 annual report chronicles a year of transition, consolidation, and renewal for the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia): a leadership hand-off, a sharpened strategy, and the high-energy BAQ 2008 conference in Bangkok that convened 1,000+ participants from 43 countries. The report situates air pollution alongside climate, transport, health and poverty, and reaffirms CAI-Asia’s role as a regional convener and technical hub linking evidence, policy, and on-the-ground action.

Who CAI-Asia is and how it works. By 2008 the partnership operated through three components: a Manila-based CAI-Asia Center (implementing arm), a UN Type II Partnership of >165 member organizations, and Country Networks then active in China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam. The 2009–2012 Strategy aligned work under two core programs—Air Quality and Transport—and a cross-cutting knowledge backbone, CitiesACT, to integrate air quality and sustainable transport into policies and programs. The approach combines “scaling out” (within cities—implementation, multisector integration, co-benefits) and “scaling up” (to thousands of Asian cities—networks, guidance, training).

Problem framing and long-term vision. The report underscores the health burden (hundreds of thousands of premature deaths, 2–4% of city GDP in health and productivity losses) and notes that while many Asian cities have tightened standards and expanded mass transit, gains are offset by rapid urbanization, motorization, and weak enforcement. CAI-Asia worked with UNEP on a Long-Term Vision on Urban Air Quality in Asia (“Healthy people in healthy cities”) adopted in principle by 15 environment ministries at the Second Governmental Meeting held in parallel with BAQ 2008, setting an indicator of progress toward WHO guideline values via comprehensive AQM strategies.

Air Quality Program—capacities, plans, data. The air quality portfolio zeroes in on (i) ambient levels and AQM capacity (monitoring, standards, management systems); (ii) clean air plans and policies that better target PM₂.₅, O₃ and air toxics and embed air–climate co-benefits; and (iii) stationary/area sources (energy efficiency in industry; rural burning and other non-point sources that can drive urban PM). The report visualizes PM₁₀ concentrations across 203 Asian cities and flags the range from very low to very high annual levels, underscoring heterogeneity and the need for comparable data. CAI-Asia also prepared an Air Quality Scorecard (pilots planned in Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila in 2009) to benchmark city AQM and guide Clean Air Action Plans. Country-level highlights include a Vietnam study on air pollution, poverty and child health (ALRI and exposure to O₃/NO₂), and training/coordination efforts with health and environment agencies to strengthen cross-linkages.

A prominent knowledge investment was the CitiesACT portal (citiesact.org), launched as a free, web-based platform consolidating air quality, climate & energy, and transport datasets, with country/city profiles, policy libraries, organization and project registries, and training courses—aimed at improving monitoring, measurement and information and enabling users to compare, analyze and export data for policymaking and research.

Blue Skies Exchange & communications. Capacity building extended through the Blue Skies Exchange Program, placing young professionals with host institutions (e.g., Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Viet Nam Clean Air Partnership, Sri Lanka VET program) to deepen skills in monitoring, source apportionment, and vehicle-emissions testing. CAI-Asia also supported the Beijing EPB in communicating air-quality actions during the 2008 Olympics via a dedicated web section with daily analyses and interviews—an illustration of evidence-based public communication.

Transport Program—avoid–shift–improve across modes. The CAI-Asia Transport Program targets urban planning and transport demand management, public and non-motorized transport, clean fuels and vehicles (fuel/emission standards, I&M, fuel economy, technologies), and freight & logistics. Through the SUMA partnership (ADB and multiple global partners), 2008 activities trained Chinese/Indian trainers on MRT/BRT, NMT, and TDM; assisted Ahmedabad & Indore on BRT; supported Pune & Nanded on cycling systems; drafted cycling-inclusive planning guidelines and two/three-wheeler guidance; researched e-bikes in China; and initiated a national sustainable transport strategy in the Philippines. Analytical work with ADB projected transport CO₂ and PM to 2035 (14 countries), highlighting that without integrated measures emissions would rise sharply and freight would dominate in many countries—implicating a policy pivot toward green freight alongside people-centred mobility.

Policy instruments crystallized in the Road Map for Cleaner Fuels and Vehicles in Asia, a multi-stakeholder study detailing why low-sulfur fuels, synchronized fuel quality and vehicle standards, and sound pricing/tax incentives are decisive—and concluding there are no technical obstacles to producing cleaner fuels in Asia, that benefits are clear and cost-effective, and that refinery upgrades present a window of opportunity. The roadmap informed Action Plans (e.g., Pakistan, Philippines, Viet Nam), a Sri Lanka VET launch, and regional dialogues toward Euro-equivalent adoption. CAI-Asia also supported pilots such as Mandaluyong’s two-stroke tricycle replacement scheme and Guangzhou’s green trucks initiative, precursors to broader green freight programming.

BAQ 2008—knowledge exchange and alignment. The Bangkok conference, co-organized with BMA, PCD, ADB, UNEP, and ESCAP, emphasized air–climate co-benefits, offered extensive training pre-events (fuel economy, fleet management, MRV tools, health benefits), and ran Country Roundtables (China, South Asia, Southeast Asia) to distill achievements/challenges and propose next steps. Attendee feedback ranked networking and policy/technical learning as the top gains. A Private Sector Roundtable explored deeper business engagement, and the Kong Ha Award honoured Beijing’s EPB director for Olympic clean-air efforts—signalling the role of leadership and recognition.

Stakeholder dialogues & governance. Beyond BAQ, CAI-Asia convened the Fourth Regional Dialogue of development agencies to coordinate initiatives on AQM, climate and energy, contributing to CitiesACT and joint programming. It also launched a Network of City Networks with CDIA to improve collaboration among city alliances. Organizationally, the Board enumerated goals to expand country presence, strengthen operations and staffing, and secure sufficient funds for expanding activities; audited financial statements (unqualified opinion) reported US$1.52M in 2008 support and income (major shares: SUMA and BAQ 2008), US$1.32M grant expenses, US$0.34M G&A, and a small year-end deficit to be recovered in 2009.

Bottom line. 2008 accelerated the evidence → capacity → policy → implementation pipeline: city diagnostics and planning tools, a regional data commons (CitiesACT), multi-stakeholder convenings (BAQ, Governmental Meetings), and concrete transport/freight and fuel/vehicle measures. The report blends urban development, public health, and economic arguments with practical roadmaps (e.g., cleaner fuels/vehicles), positioning CAI-Asia to scale city-level action while aligning regional standards and cooperation for the next phase.

Keywords

BAQ 2008 (Bangkok); Long-Term Vision on Urban Air Quality in Asia; CitiesACT portal; Air Quality Scorecard; PM₂.₅/PM₁₀ monitoring; Clean Air Action Plans; Co-benefits (air & climate); Poverty–health–air pollution (Viet Nam study); Blue Skies Exchange; Beijing Olympics air-quality communications; SUMA (BRT, NMT, TDM training); Cycling-inclusive planning; Road Map for Cleaner Fuels and Vehicles; Low-sulfur fuels; Vehicle I&M; Fuel economy; Two-stroke tricycle phase-out (Mandaluyong); Green trucks (Guangzhou); Country Roundtables & Regional Dialogues