Federation of BiH to invest USD 70 million in air quality improvement

The World Bank has approved a USD 50 million loan to the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for an air quality improvement project in four cantons. Its total value is USD 70 million, according to the international financial institution, which said the entity government would provide the remaining amount.

The goal of the air quality improvement project is to strengthen air quality monitoring and management and reduce air pollutant emissions from the residential heating sector and transport in four cantons of FBiH – Tuzla, Zenica-Doboj, Herzegovina-Neretva, and Sarajevo.

The funds are earmarked for bolstering air quality management mechanisms and institutions coupled with direct investments in domestic heating and transport activities to help achieve a lifetime reduction of 19,000 tons of local PM2.5 emissions.

The goal is to strengthen air quality monitoring and management

The two sectors account for approximately 50% and 20% of PM2.5 emissions, respectively, the World Bank said.

According to its document, the project has four components.

Strengthening air quality monitoring and management is the first one. The focus is on improving the operation of the air quality monitoring network in four cantons and the sectoral capacity to estimate pollution levels and use collected data to improve the planning of air quality management.

The project envisages the transition to low-emission transport in the Sarajevo Canton

The second component covers scaling up sustainable heating and energy efficiency in single-family houses. It is set to contribute to reducing emissions from the heating of single-family houses by providing partial grants for cleaner heating solutions and energy efficiency investments.

The third part envisages the transition to low-emission transport in Sarajevo Canton. The pilot subproject involves developing cycling infrastructure including monitoring and information systems. The plan is to acquire low-emission public transport vehicles and provide technical assistance to support the transition to low-emission transport in the urban core.

The fourth component is project implementation support.