Clean air for a sustainable future in Manila

By improving the living conditions for the people of Manila, the project also aims to contribute to the United Nations' Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. The network, in which three institutes of the Leibniz Association are involved on the German side (the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), the Leibniz Centre for Marine Tropical Research (ZMT) and the Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine (IUF)), is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with a total of around 630,000 euros.

While strict environmental laws in the European Union and North America ensure that cars with old diesel engines are removed from road traffic thereby reducing the health-threatening potential of soot particles in the air pollution, increasing road traffic in booming emerging countries may lead to major health problems.

This includes the capital of the Philippines: With around 13 million inhabitants, Metro Manila is one of the most densely populated cities in Southeast Asia. Due to the rapid increase in the number of motorized vehicles, the diesel-based public transport system (jeepneys) and increasing shipping traffic in the city's port, the residents are currently confronted with alarming air pollution that poses a health hazard.

Especially, problematic are soot particles – black carbon (BC) originating mainly from public transport (jeepneys) and possibly from the harbour..

The Ministry of Transport of the Philippines has therefore launched a modernization program to ban all vehicles older than 15 years from the roads and replace them with modern electric vehicles by 2021.

This decision has triggered heated discussions: On the one hand, the deterioration of air quality and its ecological, social and health effects are causing dissatisfaction; on the other hand, there are fears that strict emission standards could exacerbate the social problems of the poorest who are unable to keep up financially with this modernization strategy.

In Manila, small public transport operators play an important role in the affordable public transport system, earning their living driving very old jeepneys recycled from vehicles left behind by the US military after the Second World War, which emit high levels of soot particles.

The problem is being tackled with consideration to these drivers’ livelihood whilst considering the significant consequences for air quality and the health of the broader population.

“Our aim is to develop a concept on how to achieve a significant reduction in soot concentration among existing political, social and economic structures. This includes, on the one hand, creating awareness through the relevant authorities, the Jeepney drivers' union, scientific institutes and the lung centre that something needs to be done and, on the other hand, developing a socially and economically acceptable solution,” explains Prof. Alfred Wiedensohler from TROPOS, who heads the project.

Teams from the Philippines and Germany are now working on a transdisciplinary, application-oriented approach to develop restructuring concepts for the sustainable management and control of air quality standards in Metro Manila. To this end, the project “Clean Air for a Sustainable Future:

A Transdisciplinary Approach to Mitigate Emissions of Black Carbon in Metro Manila, Philippines (TAME-BC)” brings together environmental, social and health scientists from Germany and the Philippines with NGOs, political decision-makers and affected citizens from the Metro Manila region. Research Institutes for Germany are the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) in Leipzig, the Leibniz Centre for Marine Tropical Research (ZMT) in Bremen and the Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine (IUF) in Düsseldorf.

They will work in close cooperation and consultation with a broad alliance of research institutes government agencies and NGOs from the Philippines: The University of Philippines (UPD), Ateneo de Manila University (Ateneo), The Manila Observatory (MO), De La Salle University (DLSU), Clean Air Asia (CAA), Coalition of Transport Cooperatives (CTC) and Arayat Cubao Circle Ikot Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association (ACCIJODAI), The Lung Center of Philippines (LCP) and The Quezon City Government (QCG).

Over the next eighteen months, the project will receive around 630,000 euros in funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for its start-up phase.

The German-Philippine research network of TAME-BC will draw on their many years of prior cooperation and achievements. The Manila Aerosol Characterization Experiment (MACE 2015) took place in 2015. Together with its local partners, TROPOS investigated air quality with fixed measuring stations and mobile devices.

The results were alarming: soot pollution, which is the most dangerous particulate matter due to its carcinogenic effect, was up to 50 times higher than in Europe or North America. In the current project, the international team wants to answer the following questions:

What part of the transport sector contributes to air pollution and how? How do those involved act or respond and which factors decide whether innovations can be implemented? What are the health effects in detail and how can the health of the population best be protected against air pollution? The research project TAME-BC therefore aims at a sustainable improvement of life conditions. Tilo Arnhold

Links:

Manila Aerosol Characterization Experiment (MACE-2015)
https://www.tropos.de/aktuelles/messkampagnen/blogs-und-berichte/mace-2015
http://wiki.tropos.de/index.php/The_Manila_Aerosol_Characterization_Experiment_(…)

Transdisciplinary Workshop on Air Pollution in Metro Manila
https://www.leibniz-zmt.de/de/neuigkeiten/nachrichten-aktuelles/archiv-news/tran…

Urban air pollution in developing countries: Case study of Metro Manila, Philippines
https://www.imk-aaf.kit.edu/ufp/downloads/D_4_Honey_Alas_Urban%20air%20pollution…

Exploring the Air Pollution Crisis in Megacities: The Case of Metro Manila, Philippines
http://www.leibniz-krisen.de/forschung/projekte/abgeschlossene-projekte/manila-a…

Leibniz Research Alliance 'Crises in a Globalised World':
http://www.leibniz-krisen.de/en/about-us/

Scientists and engineers discussed at UN climate conference how the fight against air pollution can protect the climate:
https://www.tropos.de/en/current-issues/press-releases/details/scientists-and-en…
https://www.tropos.de/en/current-issues/events-and-lectures/un-climate-conferenc…

Contacts:
Prof. Dr. Alfred Wiedensohler
Head of the Department “Experimental Aerosol & Cloud Microphysics” at the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Leipzig, Germany
Phone: +49-341-2717-7060 (Contact via Secretary or Email)
https://www.tropos.de/en/institute/about-us/employees/alfred-wiedensohler
and
Prof. Dr. Anna-Katharina Hornidge
Department Head and Work Group Leader “Development and Knowledge Sociology” at the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Bremen, Germany
Phone: +49-421-23800-168
https://www.leibniz-zmt.de/en/marine-tropics-research/who-we-are/anna-katharina-…
and
Dr. rer. san. Tamara Schikowski
Head of research group „Environmental epidemiology of lung, brain and skin aging“ at the
IUF – Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine, Düsseldorf, Germany
Phone: +49- 211-3389-341
http://www.iuf-duesseldorf.com/schikowski-team.html

or
Tilo Arnhold
Public Relations at the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Leipzig, Germany
Phone: +49-341-2717-7189
https://www.tropos.de/en/current-issues/press-releases

Publications:

Alas, H. D., Müller, T., Birmili, W., Kecorius, S., Cambaliza, M. O., Simpas, J. B. B., Cayetano, M., Weinhold, K., Vallar, E., Galvez, M. C., Wiedensohler, A. (2018): Spatial characterization of black carbon mass concentration in the atmosphere of a Southeast Asian megacity: An air quality case study for Metro Manila, Philippines. Aerosol Air Qual. Res., 18, 2301-2317 p. doi:10.4209/aaqr.2017.08.0281
http://www.dx.doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2017.08.0281
http://aaqr.org/files/article/6615/15_AAQR-17-08-MAPS-0281_2301-2317.pdf

Kecorius, S., Tamayo, E. G., Galvez, M. C., Madueño, L., Betito, G., Gonzaga-Cayetano, M., Vallar, E., Wiedensohler, A. (2018): Activity pattern of school/university tenants and their family members in Metro Manila – Philippines. Aerosol Air Qual. Res., 18, 2412-2419 p. doi:10.4209/aaqr.2018.02.0069
http://www.dx.doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2018.02.0069
http://aaqr.org/files/article/6765/23_AAQR-18-02-MAPS-0069_2412-2419.pdf

Kecorius, S., Madueño, L., Vallar, E., Alas, H., Betito, G., Birmili, W., Cambaliza, M. O., Catipay, G., Gonzaga-Cayetano, M., Galvez, M. C., Lorenzo, G., Müller, T., Simpas, J. B., Tamayo, E. G., Wiedensohler, A. (2017): Aerosol particle mixing state, refractory particle number size distributions and emission factors in a polluted urban environment: Case study of Metro Manila, Philippines. Atmos. Environ., 170, 169-183 p. doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2017.09.037
http://www.dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2017.09.037
http://www.leibniz-krisen.de/fileadmin/user_upload/bilder/Krisen/Publikationen/A…

The Leibniz-Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) is member of the Leibniz Association, which connects 95 independent research institutions that range in focus from the natural, engineering and environmental sciences via economics, spatial and social sciences to the humanities. Leibniz Institutes address issues of social, economic and ecological relevance. They conduct knowledge-driven and applied basic research, maintain scientific infrastructure and provide research-based services.
The Leibniz Association identifies focus areas for knowledge transfer to policy-makers, academia, business and the public. Leibniz institutions collaborate intensively with universities – in the form of “Leibniz ScienceCampi” (thematic partnerships between university and non-university research institutes), for example – as well as with industry and other partners at home and abroad.
They are subject to an independent evaluation procedure that is unparalleled in its transparency. Due to the importance of the institutions for the country as a whole, they are funded jointly by the Federation and the Länder, employing some 20,000 individuals, including 10,000 researchers.
The entire budget of all the institutes is approximately 1.9 billion Euros. They are financed jointly by the Federal Government and the Länder. The basic funding of the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) is therefore financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Saxon State Ministry of Science and the Arts (SMWK). The Institute is co-financed with tax revenues on the basis of the budget approved by the Saxon State Parliament.
https://www.leibniz-gemeinschaft.de/en/home/
https://www.bmbf.de/en/index.html
https://www.smwk.sachsen.de/

https://www.tropos.de/en/current-issues/press-releases/details/saubere-luft-fuer…