Air pollution, price hike urge Mongolians to look inward for construction materials

In its efforts to tackle air pollution and combat price hike, the Mongolian government has started exploring ingenious ways to address the issue of alarming levels of air pollution, as it was described as “catastrophic” by government officials.

Reducing emissions, a major source of air pollution in Ulaanbaatar, is one of the key measures to reducing fuel consumption and heat loss.

Geres International NGO’s “Switch Air Pollution” project has been implemented in Ulaanbaatar in 2018. In the first phase of the project, over 1,000 houses in Ulaanbaatar were insulated to reduce people’s reliance on fuel.

This saved the environment from 3,000 tons of carbon dioxide and 800 tons of coal. The project seeks to cover more rural households.

During the project, the price of foam insulation, which was imported from China, increased due to a shortage supply. The project offers sheep wool as an alternative to insulation foam.