C40, Quezon City establish partnership to advance air quality management efforts in Quezon City:

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This is a story from the Quezon City government and C40 Cities. 

C40 and the Quezon City Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together in implementing solutions towards reducing air pollution in the city. C40’s Air Quality Programme directly supports cities to accelerate air quality improvements by facilitating peer to peer knowledge sharing, providing technical assistance, capacity building, and creating new tools and resources for cities.

Quezon City was one of two cities selected to participate in the 2020-2021 C40 Air Quality Technical Assistance Programme after several rounds of evaluation of the thirty one cities who applied to the programme.

The MOU states that C40 and QC will make use of their respective resources to achieve the goals of the program and support the delivery of the City’s commitments under the C40 Clean Air Cities Declaration.

Through this partnership, C40 will support Quezon City in the (1) conduct of an air quality baseline study by evaluating existing air pollution data and deploying a new network of air quality monitoring sensors; (2) development of detailed recommendations and specifications for the development of the City’s permanent air quality monitoring network, and; (3) run a series of deep capacity building workshops to train staff in air quality management principles and produce a roadmap to the city’s first Air Quality Management Plan with necessary monitoring and evaluation processes and systems.

This project is made possible through the generous funding from the Clean Air Fund, a philanthropic initiative with a mission to tackle air pollution around the world. It leads a coalition of funders interested in climate change, children and health to fund and support a multinational portfolio of clean air programmes to deliver impactful and scalable improvements to air quality, human health and decarbonization.

“The Clean Air Fund is pleased to support C40 and Quezon City in this initiative. We envision a future where all people breathe clean air and hope this partnership can lead to long term, sustained air quality improvements for the city’s residents, while providing a model to other cities in the region” said Jane Burston, Executive Director of the Clean Air Fund.

The Environmental Protection and Waste Management Department of Quezon City will take the lead in project delivery and will liaise and coordinate with relevant Quezon City Departments and stakeholders to ensure project outcomes meet their needs via stakeholder engagement.

“Quezon City is very pleased to be in partnership with C40 Cities and the Clean Air Fund on the air quality technical assistance project, which provides integral support towards fulfilling our commitment to better air quality management with the intention of providing cleaner air to our residents,” said Mayor Joy Belmonte.

Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (Clean Air Asia) was chosen as the Service Provider for the development of the Quezon City Air Quality Monitoring Network and Management Plan Development Project, while proposals for the baseline air quality study project are under evaluation.

“C40 is glad to partner with Quezon City on this and hopeful that with this initiative, the city is laying down strong foundations based on sound data and scientific information, which are essential in developing and progressing effective measures and programs for better air quality for its communities,” said Milag San Jose- Ballesteros, C40’s Regional Director for East, Southeast Asia and Oceania.

It is to note that the City also joined the BreatheLife campaign that advocates the reduction of air pollution to meet World Health Organization (WHO) Air Quality guidelines by 2030.

Banner photo by Asian Development Bank