Insufficient handling of municipal waste in the Republic of Serbia results in severe repercussions for both public health and overall well-being. The consequences of waste accumulation in unsanitary landfills, which are the primary way waste is disposed of in Serbia, are becoming increasingly obvious. The fires that occur at these landfills are becoming more frequent and larger, in proportion to t...

Across the Western Balkans, air pollution levels are breathtakingly high, and take an enormous toll on human health and mortality. Air pollution is the single greatest environmental threat to human health in the region, and in the world. City dwellers in the Western Balkans breathe air with concentrations of pollutants up to five times higher than levels specified in national, European, and WHO Ai...

Air pollution in residential neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Bishkek, the capital city of Kyrgyzstan, is a public health emergency. Since the early 1990s, many internal migrants from various regions of the country have been moving to Bishkek in search of better living conditions. As living in the city is not affordable for them, many of these internal migrants built their houses on the outskirt...

According to the latest World Bank report on the global health cost of particles with diameter less than 2.5 microns (µm) (PM2.5) air pollution, Uzbekistan has the second highest annual average PM2.5 concentration among the countries in Central Asia. This report summarizes the main results from a technical assessment of air quality in Tashkent (Part I) that informed the definition of sectoral poli...

The Air Quality Management (AQM) system in Tajikistan needs strengthening in its key policy and institutional as well as technical aspects to reduce health impacts of air pollution in the most polluted airsheds (Dushanbe and other urban centers). The World Bank's first engagement to strengthen Tajikistan's AQM aims to develop a better understanding of the priorities and needs in addressing air pol...

Existing information and studies on air quality in Bishkek are limited and at times present contradictory information regarding the main sources of air pollution in the city. This study thus uses a scientific approach to identify the main sources of air pollution in Bishkek, estimate their relative contributions to PM2.5 concentrations, model the dispersion of PM2.5 pollution across the Bishkek ai...

This Brief explains the effects of air pollution, which in Bishkek exceeds WHO air quality guidelines by up to 30 times in winter. The Brief highlights that the drivers of air pollution are now clear, with residential coal heating as the primary cause, followed by transport. It also proposes interventions to accelerate the transition to cleaner air. This includes replacing coal by heat pumps for h...

The Asian Development Bank’s TA-9919 REG: Integrated and Innovative Solutions for More Livable Cities supports the efforts of developing members to build livable cities that are green, competitive, inclusive, and resilient by applying innovative and integrated solutions in project development, design, and execution. The development of a Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) for the city of Bishkek, Kyrgyz ...

The Asian Development Bank’s TA-9919 REG: Integrated and Innovative Solutions for More Livable Cities supports the efforts of developing members to build livable cities that are green, competitive, inclusive, and resilient by applying innovative and integrated solutions in project development, design, and execution. The development of a Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) for the city of Bishkek, Kyrgyz ...

The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) TA-9919 REG: Integrated and Innovative Solutions for More Livable Cities supports the efforts of developing members to build livable cities that are green, competitive, inclusive, and resilient by applying innovative and integrated solutions in project development, design, and execution. Approved in 2019, TA-9919 is aligned with ADB’s Strategy 2030 and its Operat...