The EU and French Embassy delegation visit “Switch Off Air Pollution” project site

03.09.2020

On 31 August, Chargé d'affaires of the Delegation of the European Union to Mongolia Mr. Marco Ferri and First Counsellor of the French Embassy Mr. Nicolas Lacôte visited the project site of the European Union-funded “Switch Off Air Pollution” project in Songinokhairkhan district, Ulaanbaatar.

Highlighting the visit Mr. Marco Ferri, Chargé d’Affaires of the Delegation of the European Union to Mongolia says that “The European Union is financing the Switch Off Air Pollution project. I am happy to see that the technical solutions for different type of house insulation are helping ger area residents to have significant decrease of coal consumption and increased comfort inside their homes.” Furthermore, Mr. Nicolas Lacôte, First Counsellor of the French Embassy to Mongolia states that "The French Embassy is very satisfied to see that, with the support of the EU and the French Development Agency,  Switch Off Air Pollution project creates the market for craftsmen to be entrepreneurs and enables households to receive excellent quality insulation through access to green loans. Such a creative project was necessary but was not implemented in Mongolia as much as it should have been."

The “Switch Off Air Pollution Project” works towards insulating and retrofitting 1,000 houses in the ger districts to reduce air pollution. The Project aims to contribute to its goal of a 30% reduction in emissions from burning coal as a source of heat and a 30% minimum increase in the energy efficiency of ger district households. To make the goal of energy efficiency and pollution reduction more accessible, the project is partnering with Xac Bank who will offer a 30-month Green loan, at 8% interest, to households who want to insulate their detached house.

Switch Off Air Pollution Project is principally financed by the European Union’s Switch Asia Program with additional support from the Abbe Pierre Foundation, the Czech and French Development Agencies. From 2018 to 2021, the Project is led by Geres Mongolia INGO in collaboration with the Building Energy Efficiency Centre at the Mongolian University of Science and Technology, the Mongolian National Construction Association, and People in Need .