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Arab Emirates
point-source and area module, and is currently developing mobile-source and biogenic and geogenic modules.21 It is highly recommended that other economies in the region follow suit and adopt a similar framework for emission reporting to tackle the issue of air pollution efficiently on a national scale.
BOX 3.2
Air Quality Monitoring in Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates
Good air quality is recognized as essential for the health and well-being of the population in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and as an intrinsic part of what makes it an attractive place to live and work. The emirate has established 20 stationary and 2 mobile stations for monitoring air quality. These stations monitor 17 pollutants and selected meteorological indicators on an hourly basis. There are 41 stations within the United Arab Emirates as a whole. Air quality standards are based on US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) guidelines, including particulate matter (PM), with hourly, daily, and annual standards.
In February 2020, the United Arab Emirates disseminated its first-ever National Air Emissions Inventory Report, which provides comprehensive data on sources of air pollutants such as SO2, NOX, CO, and PM (MOCCAE 2019). This report revealed that, among the anthropogenic sources of air pollution in the United Arab Emirates, industry is the major contributor to PM10 (76 percent) and PM2.5 (68 percent), followed by road transportation (13 percent and 19 percent, respectively). CO stems mostly from road transportation (78 percent) and industry (17 percent). SO2 is emitted mainly from operations in the oil and gas sector (79 percent) and NOX from road transportation (38 percent) as well as from power generation and desalination processes and oil and gas operations (both 15 percent).
The detailed analysis carried by the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) in the course of its Air Emissions Inventory for 2018 enables an assessment of the varying nature of dominant air pollution sources within a city. Depending on the location of industries, energy production sites, or major transportation hubs such as ports, the dominant sources in certain localities of Abu Dhabi differ. For example, the Musafah district is primarily affected by industrial sources, while in Shahama on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, agricultural sources of air pollution dominate. Vehicular emissions occur wherever there is traffic (that is, near roads). However, cities (or some parts of them) are more affected by both higher traffic and impaired air exchange in street canyons—that is, narrow roads with high surrounding buildings, making populations living there more exposed to these sources. The results in the EAD report showcase the high spatial variation of air pollution sources within a city and highlight the need for detailed studies to better understand these variations (Sanderson 2018).
Ways Forward
Enhancing the monitoring, reporting, and public dissemination of information about air pollution sources should be a key priority for Middle East and North Africa economies. A first step toward combating air pollution in an evidence-based manner is to install more air pollution tracking systems, together with supporting the responsible agencies (the respective environmental protection agencies). Furthermore, easier access and heightened public dissemination of such analyses will be important to raise awareness and spread knowledge about air pollution and its sources. This allows for more effective investigations by both academics and policy makers while also integrating the broader population into the discussion about air pollution and suitable counteractive measures as well as evaluation of their effectiveness. Importantly, this evidence base empowers the making of effective pollution abatement policy on a local scale while also increasing the acceptance of these policies.
Regular source identification and apportionment are key to tackling air pollution and to judging the effectiveness of any mitigation measures. Identifying the sources of air pollution is a precursor to formulating suitable, targeted measures. However, it does not stop there. If the goal is to evaluate measures taken in the past, determine their effectiveness, and revise them if necessary, then regular measurements of air pollutants and identification of their sources are required. This involves sophisticated analyses carried out as frequently as possible and accounting for seasonal variations. Regular apportionment analyses as well as emissions inventories would allow for timely, effective identification of policies that tackle AAP most efficiently and would allow for flexible reformulations of policy strategies over time if necessary.
Picking the most economical solutions across sectors requires source information but also detailed modeling exercises. Aside from knowing the sources, it is important to compare pollution abatement costs across the sectors and within sectors. Given limited fiscal space, it is also important to invest in the most cost-effective options. Marginal abatement cost curves—displaying the relative costs of particular interventions together with the benefits they bring—can be a useful tool for prioritizing solutions across a suite of options (much like the ones presented in the next chapter).
Earlier, the chapter presented policies that can be implemented even without a clear picture regarding the exact sources of air pollution. The next section presents the full range of promising policies most suitable for the Middle East and North Africa that could target
different sources of air pollution. Which policies to pick depends crucially on information about the relative importance of the sources along with national and regional factors such as institutional and political economy considerations.
Because most of the region’s economies and cities lack the source information described above, this section’s objective is to describe (rather than prescribe) the “universe” of policies that countries and cities may take, depending on what the source information reveals. The reviewed policies include market-based incentives, regulations, technologies, and engineering solutions. This section also provides examples of effective interventions in the Middle East and North Africa and reviews international best practices. It then provides a descriptive review of a broad range of measures for reducing air pollution that the region’s cities and economies may want to ponder.
Which combination of measures is optimal for which economy and city is a highly contextual question (depending, among other factors, on its institutions and political economy). The policy selection therefore requires in-depth analysis of local conditions and opportunities, as shown by recent detailed, city-level analyses in Egypt and the Islamic Republic of Iran.22 Hence, the need for more detailed source identification studies and their dissemination should be reiterated. This would allow for the employment of specific measures in each location in an evidence-based manner to tackle the main sources of pollution and contribute to effective, efficient air pollution management in the Middle East and North Africa.
Before getting into specific options, it should be noted that for air quality management (AQM) to be effective, a governance and institutional framework is important to bring together the various stakeholders affected and establish clear guidelines and rules to follow. The specific options for tackling air pollution described below target the most common sources of air pollution. Some of these options can be differentiated by source and describe measures to (a) reduce vehicle emissions; (b) lower industrial emissions, including those from energy production and use; and (c) mitigate or eliminate air pollution resulting from uncontrolled burning of agricultural or solid waste. Furthermore, some crucial measures are independent of the exact source of air pollution, including (d) raising public awareness about air pollution; (e) increasing energy efficiency in the residential sector; and (f) greening cities and their infrastructure.
The policy options presented in the following subsections are an extensive but not exhaustive list deemed to be most appropriate within the Middle East and North Africa context, both to limit further
degradation of the region’s air and to provide authorities with tools that are efficiently enforceable. Several of the subsections—on vehicle emissions, industrial emissions, and greening cities—include tables that summarize the proposed policy options, describe their expected effectiveness and costs for implementation, and assess the time horizon in which they could be implemented based on regional and international experiences. However, the Middle East and North Africa’s very heterogeneity implies that these aspects may vary across countries, necessitating additional economy-specific assessments.
Prerequisites for Implementing Effective Policies
Legal and regulatory frameworks. This process entails the enshrinement of a series of laws, acts, and regulations within a transparent legal and regulatory framework. This framework would define institutional roles and responsibilities of government officials and agencies for AQM and establish compliance, reporting, and enforcement mechanisms as well as legal instruments that adopt previously agreed-upon national air quality standards.
Governmental coordination. Given the various governmental stakeholders involved in an effective AQM framework, horizontal and vertical coordination among them becomes even more important. Establishing functional arrangements to coordinate these stakeholders across sectors (horizontal) and between different levels of government (vertical) with clear descriptions of functions, responsibilities, and management rights is necessary to develop plans to reduce air pollution and effectively execute those plans.
Nested planning processes. Air pollution is a transnational issue, with the actions taken by one country possibly affecting—or even likely to affect—others. It is also an intranational issue involving various administrative units within a country. Having modalities and planning procedures in place to allow for nested planning across national and subnational boundaries is crucial to avoid frictions across those boundaries. Ideally, coordination between countries would lead to unified approaches to tackle air pollution, and synergies could arise based on sound evidence developed through consultation with stakeholders, government agencies, and technical experts.
Committed executive structures. Many policy options described below involve some sort of regulation, ban, or technology requirements. To ensure compliance, institutions in charge of implementing these AQM policies in the form of committed executive branches must be clearly defined. This process includes the establishment of penalty schemes and prosecution procedures for noncompliant companies and residents as well as staff trained to properly administer
such procedures. It also requires clear structures for financing those activities.
Public accountability and transparency. Related to the current lack of comprehensive source information and insufficient dissemination of information to the public, upholding accountability and transparency standards by disclosing information, tracking and evaluating progress, promoting public participation, and holding responsible institutions accountable is key to ensure broad public support. Furthermore, having reliable data on air quality and its sources of degradation is essential for assessments of health impacts and economic analyses, which in turn are key for evidence-based policy making and decision support.
Policies to Reduce Vehicle Emissions
Motorized vehicles are a main source of air pollution in the Middle East and North Africa. This has been and remains true because of the region’s relatively outdated vehicle fleet, low-quality fuel, and the lack of comprehensive regulations to control exhaust emissions (Waked and Afif 2012). Low, often subsidized fuel prices, an underdeveloped public transportation system, and increasing demand for motor vehicles due to population and economic growth have exacerbated this trend even though the average emissions per kilometer driven have been decreasing (Abdallah et al. 2020). Hence, the region’s policy makers should focus on reducing motor vehicle emissions to effectively combat the adverse health, environmental, and economic effects of these emissions.
This subsection reviews the main options for reducing emissions from urban mobility, including
• Properly pricing fuel by removing distortive fossil fuel subsidies • Introducing environmental fiscal reforms • Improving vehicle technology and strengthening maintenance and inspection • Improving fuel quality and supporting vehicle fuel switching • Strengthening public transportation • Implementing place-based policies (such as LEZs).
A broad range of measures are available to combat air pollution caused by vehicles (see tables 3.2 and 3.3). These tables also include additional measures not discussed in the text, because their purpose is to present a broad set of available policy options. Successful examples within the
