A Clean Air Scorecard for Asian Cities

Abstract

O-31B5-4 Background/Aims: There is growing interest among various groups, including the general public, media, international organizations, and policy-makers, for an understanding of the air quality management status and trends in Asia, especially in the city-level. While there are tools that measure environmental performance in general, there has only been a limited methodology specifically for assessment of air quality management for cities. A lack of guidance has resulted in a number of reports and publications using the good versus bad list analysis—100 dirtiest cities, top 10 cities with best air quality, usually only considering air quality levels for a city. This is problematic as they may not put the data into context, for example, they may only look at 1 pollutant, or only 1 year or not consider seasonal differences. Further, this paints an incomplete picture as it does not consider the (1) air quality management capacity and (2) the clean air programs and actions being implemented in the city. Methods: Recognizing this need, CAI-Asia has developed an objective and comprehensive analysis tool for understanding the air quality management status in cities which incorporates (1) air quality levels, (2) clean air management capacity, and (3) clean air policies and actions—the Clean Air Scorecard. Results: CAI-Asia has recently developed the Clean Air Scorecard Tool Version 1 which can evaluate the current situation of a city based on 3 indices: (1) Air Pollution and Health Index, (2) Clean Air Management Capacity Index, and (3) Clean Air Policies and Actions Index. Conclusion: This presentation will provide a background on the development of the scorecard including an overview of the existing tools available for assessing the air quality management, basis and structure of the clean air scorecard, a short demo of the actual tool, and the preliminary results for the pilot implementation in Manila, Bangkok, and Jakarta.