Vista in Bangladesh and Pakistan
Vista Analysis has recently signed an agreement with the World Bank on analyzing Water, Sanitation and Hygiene and Urban Environmental Health Risks in the Province of Sindh in Pakistan and Sundarbans in Bangladesh. The objective of the project is to estimate the cost of inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WSH), including effects on child malnutrition, and respiratory illness from poor hygiene practices in Sindh and Sundarbans, and urban environmental health risks (urban air pollution including particulate matter (PM) and lead (Pb) poisoning; noise from road traffic; and traffic accidents) in Karachi, Sindh.
Subsequently, we should also undertake a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of alternative interventions that the Governments could carry out to reduce the burden of environmental degradation, particularly in areas where vulnerable groups, such as the poor, children, and women are more severely affected. Part of the assignment is also to evaluate the incidence of the impacts of environmental health risks on vulnerable groups, including the poor and children under the age of 5.
The study should serve to guide the efforts of the Governments and other stakeholders, the World Bank and its development partners, NGOs, and research centers, to invest their resources in environmental protection activities and other interventions that will yield the greatest net social benefits.
The study is carried out in cooperation with independent consultant Bjørn Larsen. Project Manager at Vista Analysis is John Skjelvik.
Vista in Mongolia and China
Vista Analysis has recently helped the World Bank and environmental authorities in China prepare a compliance plan to guide cities of China that are polluted by particulate matter, PM. While urban concentrations of PM have come down in recent years the situation is volatile and there are still 108 cities that do not comply with the Chinese PM concentration standard of 100 µg/m3 for PM10. The plan focuses in particular on 18 large cities that experience concentrations of more than 120 µg/m3. It is unlikely that these very polluted cities will come down below the standard unless new initiatives are made and cost-effective interventions are implemented. The plan lays out methodologies and suggests interventions that these cities could make use of.
Vista Analysis is currently also helping the World Bank and the Government of Mongolia disseminate improved household stoves for cooking and heating in Ulaanbataar, the capital of Mongolia. Ulaanbataar has seen a huge increase in air pollution recently as several hundred thousand new residents have flocked to the city. Most new residents live in insulated tents called gers. Most residents have a stove in the center of the ger, and this stove is of poor quality. The result is a blanket of pollution across the city and in particular the ger areas.
Improved stoves will improve the situation, but it is important to disseminate them in a smart way. Vista Analysis has been engaged to design a subsidy and buy-back scheme for stoves.
Project Manager at Vista Analysis for these studies is Haakon Vennemo.
Photo: A household stove in a ger in Ulaan Baatar