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Struggling to breathe: In Mongolia, long known as the Land of the Blue Sky, air pollution has reached a crisis point www.theglobeandmail.com
Mongolia is known as the Land of the Blue Sky.
But for the 1.6 million residents of its capital, Ulaanbaatar, clear skies are a rare luxury.
A toxic pall hangs over the city, particularly during the winter months. Ulaanbaatar, which sits in a valley, is among cities with the worst air quality in the world.
Residents know this – they can see the pollution in the air and taste it in their food. And they can trace its effects in the health of their children.
In the world’s coldest capital, the average temperature in February is -18°C. However, the majority of its citizens live in yurts (called ger) and other inexpensive forms of housing – dwellings that require a lot of energy to heat.
Traditionally, Mongolians burned a wood fire in a central hearth, but over many years of Soviet rule, that method was replaced with coal stoves, with dangerous results.
Three hundred Mongolians die each year from air-pollution-related illnesses. Of those, 240 are children. As of 2020, 38.8 per cent of all reported respiratory diseases were among children under the age of five.
Some nurseries are equipped with air monitors and purifiers.
Pregnant women suffer, too, with fetal deaths spiking in the more polluted winter months.
“It’s not just winter pollution,” says activist Dulguun Ganbaatar. “Coal dust settles on the soil, plants and water.”
Mongolia’s economy is reliant on coal. Raw materials account for more than 90 per cent of exports. And coal plants provide 93 per cent of the country’s energy.
(By comparison, recent figures show coal provides 3.8 per cent of Canada’s electricity.)
Traffic, as elsewhere in the world, also contributes. The number of vehicle registrations has doubled over the past decade.
Mongolian cars and trucks, often with decades-old engines, run on less refined fuel, and their emissions make up 20 per cent of the city’s pollution. Since 2016, citizens have been staging yearly protests in the thousands, asking the government to intervene.
In 2017, the cabinet approved a National Program on Reduction of Air and Environmental Pollution, but their stated goals have not been reached – such as a target to halve air pollution by 2025.
The protesters say that foreign aid and their own government’s money have not provided the results they should have.
“It’s the wind that solves the problem, not the government,” says Ganjavkhlan Chadraabal, the organizer of a recent protest in Ulaanbaatar.
“Billions have been invested, with no result.”
In 2019, in an attempt to improve indoor air, the government banned the use of raw coal, replacing it with briquettes made from a coal byproduct called semicoke.
However, the quality of the briquettes is now under question.
Some users allege the briquettes contain toxic additives, and an inspection of the Tavan Tolgoi Fuel Company is under way.
Through the efforts of various non-profits and individuals, 70,000 people signed a petition asking parliament to hold a public hearing on air pollution and government spending.
Even though air pollution-related fatalities are lower than in 2016, improvements are relative.
In 2024, air quality in the winter was overwhelmingly bad, with measurements far exceeding health guidelines.
“What’s missing is political will. How many more lives must be lost, and how much more suffering must we endure before leaders take decisive action?”
Photography and story
by Natalya Saprunova
About the photographer
Born in Murmansk, in the Arctic region of Russia, Natalya Saprunova is a Paris-based photographer. Her work explores societal issues such as identity, environment, climate change, youth, femininity and spirituality. Since 2019 she has been travelling the far north, visiting the Saami tundras, Yakutia, the Canadian Arctic and Mongolia.
Published Date:2025-02-19
