![[logo] US EPA](http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
Country Pages
The IES program provides direct technical assistance to developing countries in identifying and implementing harmonized technology and policy measures to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to achieve local public health, economic, and environmental objectives (known as co-benefits).
Government agencies and research institutions in Argentina, Brazil, China, Chile, India, Mexico, the Philippines, and South Korea participate in the IES program. Analyses are uniquely adapted to the needs and interests of policymakers and researchers in the host countries. A brief summary of the projects in each country follows. For more information on a specific country, click on the individual country pages.
Argentina
IES-Argentina
The IES project in Buenos Aires, Argentina, began in October 2000. Goals of the project included identifying and assessing potential co-benefits strategies and measures for mitigating GHG emissions and air pollution. The project also aimed to raise awareness and technical capabilities in analyzing and implementing integrated strategies among policymakers and researchers. Ultimately, the project quantified the health benefits of reducing particulate matter (PM) due to specific measures to improve air quality as well as reduce GHG reductions, especially focusing on the transportation sector. The IES-Argentina team released its final report in December 2002.
Brazil
IES-Brazil
The overall objective of the IES-Brazil project was to establish a framework for developing, analyzing, and implementing integrated, environmentally sustainable policies for the São Paulo Metropolitan Region, with particular focus on the transport sector. The IES team in São Paulo, Brazil, analyzed the health impacts of the National Program for Motor Vehicle Pollution Control in São Paulo (PROCONVE) in the 1990s; developed baseline and alternative energy/emission/air quality scenarios to analyze specific technologies and policy measures under consideration to mitigate local air pollution and GHG emissions; assessed and quantified the air pollution, environmental health, and climate change benefits of each scenario; and estimated the economic benefits and costs. This work helped prioritize public policy and technology options that could be implemented, using cost-effective analyses as criteria. The IES-Brazil team released a final report in mid-2004.
Chile
IES-Chile
IES work in Chile was conducted in three parts. The first part analyzed the health impacts of implementation of air quality improvements of measures planned for the Metropolitan area of Santiago by the regional environmental authority’s Climate Policy Scenario for 2000-2020. The second part focused more specifically on analysis of mitigation measures under consideration in the Santiago Decontamination Plan, the air quality management plan for the city. The third part focused on assisting the Chilean government with further development of clean energy strategies, by identifying the costs and benefits associated with further expansion of renewable energy technologies on Chile’s two-grid energy distribution system. The IES co-benefits analyses supported Chile’s current policy needs on issues such as the development of a renewable energy set-aside, renewable energy portfolio requirements, and environmental benefits from generated electricity. The IES-Chile team released its latest report in April 2006.
China
IES-China
While work to link health benefits to air pollution abatement in China is not new, the IES program has added a comprehensive process that engages policymakers and builds vital analytical capacity for continued work in the future. The IES-China program began as an assessment of energy options and health impacts in major Chinese cities, of which Shanghai was the first. Results of this study were incorporated into the Five-Year Plan process for Shanghai. Similar work in Beijing was completed in 2006. The Beijing analysis was designed to assist decision-makers in efforts to improve air quality in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games. Starting in 2003, the Beijing team also took the lead in conducting a national level IES assessment. The IES-Shanghai team released its final report in late 2001; the IES-Beijing team released its final report in 2006, and the national assessment final report is expected in early 2008.
India
IES-India
The IES-India ambient air quality analysis focused on measures in the transportation and industrial sectors, including improvements to the transport system, such as establishing a more effective bus transit system with dedicated bus lanes, priority for buses at stoplights, route rationalization, and use of compressed natural gas (CNG) buses. Among other conclusions, the study found that effective bus transit mitigation measures show great potential to reduce particulate matter (PM10) and greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to the analysis, this project also involved a concerted outreach effort to engage the general public and the business community. The team released a final report in April 2005. Current IES-India work is focused on improving capacity for validating emissions inventories through a source apportionment project. This project will strengthen data quality for future IES analyses.
Mexico
IES-Mexico
The initial IES project in Mexico City was designed to assist in the evaluation of PROAIRE, the Metropolitan Environmental Commission’s (CAM’s) set of policy measures for addressing local air quality in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area for 2002-2010. It was also designed to add consideration of GHGs to that analysis. Results indicated that implementation of the measures in PROAIRE would yield a significant reduction in carbon dioxide, and that opportunities exist for achieving the air quality goals at a reduced cost. Another IES project in Mexico City quantified the costs and benefits of a new bus rapid transit (BRT) system operating on Insurgentes Avenue. The analysis revealed that the annual value of the health benefits and travel-time benefits greatly exceeds the capital cost of creating the system. A current IES-Mexico project is evaluating a number of national-level policy options for their potential to reduce local air pollutants and GHGs. Using a gridded air quality model with Mexico-specific parameters, the impact of those reductions on ambient air quality is being quantified, and will be used to determine health and monetary benefits of the measures.
Philippines
IES-Philippines
The IES-Philippines project began in February 2003 and focused on identifying and analyzing alternative transportation measures for Metro Manila that improve air quality and public health and reduce GHG emissions. The measures included a Transportation Demand Management (TDM) system that involves using license plate permitting to reduce traffic flow; constructing a rail-based mass transit system and bikeways; implementing a Motor Vehicle Inspection System (MVIS); introducing CNG buses and Cocodiesel (CME) for diesel-fueled vehicles, particularly jeepneys; switching two-stroke tricycles to four-stroke engines; and improving vehicles through the use of diesel particulate traps. The IES-Philippines team issued its final report in June 2005.
South Korea
IES-South Korea
The initial IES-South Korea study applied a bottom-up impact analysis approach to evaluate the benefits resulting from integrated mitigation policies and measures in the metropolitan area of Seoul. The goals of the project were to assess and quantify the environmental and public health benefits resulting from integrated mitigation measures, to provide policy recommendations for integrated planning, and to build in-country capacity to conduct co-benefits analysis. Based on initial interest in results from the Seoul study, the Korean Ministry of Environment funded a national-level study using the IES methodology, which concluded that the health benefits associated with integrated measures were considerably greater than those found in the original Seoul study. The IES-South Korea team released the conclusions from the national study in a 2001 report. Most recently, the IES-Korea team has studied the effects of various air quality measures initiated under the Seoul Air Quality Management Plan, as well as selected GHG reduction measures. A final report from this phase of the study will be released in early 2008.