We present our interview with J.Sainzaya, the Executive Director of the “Unen Khatamj” NGO, regarding the budget allocated to air pollution reduction efforts in Mongolia and the policies and decisions implemented by the government in this regard.
Your organization monitors budget expenditures and the enforcement of laws. How would you assess the efficiency of the funds allocated to reducing air pollution?
The state budget of Mongolia has been expanding year by year. There is no other country in the world that has doubled its budget within four years. Yet, it is perplexing that this immense amount of money brings no tangible benefits to the lives of citizens. The primary reason for this is corruption.
Corruption is deeply rooted in our country. The governance has been thoroughly corrupted to the point of collapse, leading to widespread poverty and hardship among citizens. Globally, corruption is regarded as a form of torture. In our country, those in power are essentially torturing their citizens. As residents of the capital city, we live under the torturous grip of our government. This is a grave issue that demands the attention and concern of every individual.
Over the years, vast sums of money have been wasted under the pretense of reducing air pollution, to the extent that most citizens can now recite these figures from memory. For instance, between 2008 and 2016, around 560 billion MNT was spent on combating air pollution, and between 2017 and 2022, 456 billion MNT was allocated. Since 2001, 30 to 40 billion MNT has been spent annually from the city’s budget on air pollution reduction, which has now increased to 60 billion MNT this year. Over the past three years, approximately 500 billion MNT from international donations and aid alone was spent on air pollution reduction. By 2024, it is reported that a total of 1.5 trillion MNT will have been spent on air pollution reduction efforts. These figures are based on publicly available data and serve as superficial calculations. However, according to our estimates, the actual expenditure on air pollution reduction is three times higher than this.
Consider a single child getting illness due to air pollution. In such a case, one family member must miss work to care for the sick child or take them to the hospital. This reduces household income, resulting in financial losses. Moreover, significant expenses are incurred for hospital stays, medications, and treatments. Each time the child falls ill, these losses multiply. Parents taking their child to the hospital for the third time due to persistent illnesses are often told, “We’ll just repeat the same treatment and it won’t be effective; you’ll need to manage it yourself,” and are sent back home. Air pollution is thus exhausting and impoverishing citizens economically while draining them physically. Despite this, there is no effective action or tangible result to counter this crisis.
The first unit dedicated to addressing air pollution was established in Mongolia in 2008, marking 17 years since its inception. The Capital City’s Air Pollution Control Center, a large and complex entity, continues to operate today, employing over 50 staff members. The state budget covers its operational expenses, including salaries, incentives, equipment, and office supplies. These expenditures should also be included in the budget allocated for air pollution reduction. Additionally, the psychological and quality-of-life impacts of air pollution on citizens must be considered.
It was reported that, on average, 10 to 20 people used to die annually from carbon monoxide poisoning, a number that has now risen to 40. In a country with a population of just over three million, losing 40 to 50 lives annually due to air pollution is both tragic and horrifying. There are also alarming statistics related to fetal deaths. Regrettably, the detrimental effects of air pollution on public health and household economies have not been meticulously studied or quantified in our country. The stated 1.5 trillion MNT represents only a fraction of the total damage.
Do you believe that the funds allocated to reducing air pollution have been utterly wasted?
There is indeed an organization tasked with combating air pollution. Budgets and funding continue to be allocated regularly to this issue. Yet, the smog remains at a catastrophic level. This indicates that the policymakers and decision-makers are either doing their jobs improperly or failing to address the core issues.
I recently reviewed the mid-year report for 2023 on the transparency performance indicators of the agency in charge of air and environmental pollution reduction in the capital city. Reporting on their activities transparently is, of course, appropriate and an example of good governance. The most puzzling part, however, is that the completion rate for their planned activities consistently ranged from 70 to 100 percent. A 100 percent completion rate implies that they fully utilized their allocated budget. On paper, it all looks flawless. But where are the results of these supposedly 100 percent-completed activities in real life?
The most embarrassing and tragic part is that their tasks include monitoring and controlling raw coal usage and preventing it from entering the capital city. If the refined fuel that residents use were truly good, high-quality, affordable, and smokeless, why would people resort to burning raw coal illegally? Secondly, focusing on such trivial matters is not even their job. Moreover, many other organizations are also responsible for monitoring raw coal usage. Instead of wasting their human and financial resources on such unnecessary activities, why don’t they improve the quality of the refined fuel?
Government organizations waste money, produce reports, and give themselves a 100 percent performance rating. Meanwhile, in reality, the smog thickens, its toxicity increases, and people are getting sicker. The agencies tasked with addressing air pollution need to change their approach fundamentally. If they are genuinely committed to transparency, they should revise and renew their policies and plans with public involvement. They have wasted money for 17 years, and there’s been no tangible outcome. It’s time to work differently.
At one point, the government actively implemented various projects and programs to combat air pollution. However, in recent years, these efforts seem to have diminished. As a result, people now greet such initiatives with skepticism and criticism. Would you agree that this reflects a loss of public trust in such efforts?
Absolutely. Nowadays, discussions seem to revolve around distributing or mandating items like fuel, carbon monoxide detectors, and stoves. Most recently, the city announced a project to distribute “smokeless” stoves to 32,000 households at a cost of 28 billion MNT.
They’ve distributed stoves before, and now they’re repeating the same exercise. I recently heard about a Mongolian engineer who developed a stove capable of burning away smog and received a patent for it in China. His invention is reportedly recognized not only in China but also in Europe. If the goal is to introduce truly smokeless and effective stoves, why not support this Mongolian engineer, purchase his product, and make it widely available? It’s true that we can’t house all families in apartments at once, and for now, the need to burn fuel is inevitable. There may indeed be issues with the stoves and the fuels being burned.
We are not experts in this field, but what we do know is that the stoves and fuels you’ve distributed are not working and will not work. Everyone says so. When criticized, officials respond with statements like, “Then we’ll import coal from China.” How does this make sense? We export our best coal to China, keep the waste residue for ourselves, and then consider buying more coal from China at inflated prices? Why should we have to do this? Is there an excess of funds that needs to be squandered?
We, as the rightful owners of our nation’s resources, should not have to suffer health consequences while using leftover, subpar products. We deserve the best.
Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene recently made remarks along the lines of, “The smog has reached the Ikh Tenger area. We can’t just sit back and say it’s not our problem.” What does this mean? Was air pollution never considered your issue before? Did you think that because you lived in a smog-free area, it didn’t concern you?
During discussions about the 2025 state budget, the Prime Minister was traveling abroad. After the budget was approved, he suddenly returned and started talking about discussing the smog issue, asking questions like, “Are there laws, regulations, and budgets for this?” As the head of government, he should have raised the smog crisis during the budget discussions, presented plans for tackling the issue, and outlined the necessary costs and funding. That’s how we expect him to act.
If we compare the government to a household, the Prime Minister is akin to the homemaker, the one responsible for handling all critical matters. Furthermore, there’s talk of holding closed-door meetings about the smog issue after the New Year celebration. By then, how many children will have fallen ill, and how many lives will be lost? Apparently, these things don’t matter to politicians. They seem content to remain silent throughout the smog season. Having the prime minister like this is disgraceful. I am deeply ashamed. There seems to be no future where we are freed from the smog.
The National Audit Office has repeatedly reviewed the budget spent on reducing air pollution, conducting monitoring and analysis, and found that a significant amount of money was wasted on ineffective and unnecessary work. Also, both international and domestic research and oversight bodies have provided several calculations related to budget funding. This has had a significant impact on providing citizens with accurate information and improving public oversight. However, it is unfortunate that those responsible for carrying out ineffective work and causing damage to the country are not held accountable. The government has been complacent about the issue of air pollution.
In our country, the accountability system is nonexistent. There is no such concept. When an official makes a mistake and causes significant financial damage to the country, they are often reassigned to another position, even promoted to a leadership role elsewhere. Then, they repeat their mistakes. There are very few people who monitor this.
When it comes to the issue of air pollution, people have started talking about the need for long-term policies and plans to demand accountability and address the issue. The approach of saying, “This cannot be solved today or tomorrow; results can only be seen in the future, in the long term,” is being used, but is this the right approach?
Policy and decision-makers often talk about short, medium, and long-term plans, but it seems they themselves do not understand these concepts. Even the head of government does not know about them. The time spent addressing air pollution has not been short. Intensive work in this area has been done since 2008. During this time, the government has changed several times. However, in the past eight years, one party has been in power. The prime minister has been in office for an extended period. Yet, he only talks about seeing the pollution now, which is a clear sign of irresponsibility.
The agencies responsible for air pollution have avoided accountability, constantly shifting their duties and responsibilities, leaving the capital city to bear the burden. You criticized the key agency responsible for air pollution in the capital city.
I examined the agency’s website thoroughly. The issues being raised now were already discussed in the 2010s. The most important thing is that, compared to now, more substantial work was carried out back then. At least, their work was planned in detail and on time. In the past, 20 to 30 billion MNT was spent on combating pollution, but now it has reached hundreds of billions. Despite this, the current situation has worsened. It’s heartbreaking, isn’t it? This year alone, the agency in charge of air and environmental pollution reduction in the capital city received 39 billion MNT in funding. They claim to have worked on improving measurement infrastructure and capacity, carrying out pollution measurements at 233 steam boilers and seven power plants, and conducting 66 trials on improved fuel. They claim these efforts had a positive impact on controlling air pollution and that they provided transparent information to the public. However, upon further inspection, this is all that is reported.
Should we continue “feeding” a large, ineffective structure with taxpayer money, or should we be demanding and pushing them to take action?
The agency’s budget has grown significantly, yet they fail to produce results, which means they are not doing their job. If not, then the policy itself is flawed. We do not want them to be just producing paper. It seems that the government has an interest in keeping the citizens poor, ignorant, uneducated, and powerless. We need to speak up boldly against all the wrongs. Only by doing so can we bring about a better future.
What role should the government play in the air pollution issue? Should they inspect household stoves and fuel, or even give lessons on how to burn fuel?
The government should develop effective policies and implement the laws. It is not their job to be going up the mountains to monitor pollution or searching for raw coal in vehicles entering the city. The Mayor of Ulaanbaatar, Kh.Nyambaatar should focus on holding those responsible for air pollution accountable, rather than scolding citizens. He should stop monitoring pollution from the mountains, openly state that the policies being implemented are ineffective, and hold the responsible parties accountable.
By D.CHANTSALMAA
