Mongolia experiences winter for nearly half of the year, with temperatures dropping to -40°C or lower. Heating technology is therefore crucial for the livelihood of its inhabitants. Despite this, many residents in the capital’s Ger districts, which are situated outside of centralized heating systems, rely on coal for warmth. The result is strikingly high per-capita rates of greenhouse gas emissions.
As part of the Global Policy Project (GP²), the capstone of the MPPGA program, students Benjamin Kofa Fyneah, David Mayfield, Ghassan Hamzeh, Maha Siddiqui, and Roanna Pizarro traveled to Mongolia to work with the Global Green Growth Institute. With an approach driven by the promotion of buy-in for a shift away from coal, the project investigated clean heating technologies within the nation. The research project was supported by SPPGA faculty lead Prof. Tarun M. Khanna, an expert in energy and climate policy.
The students shared their reflections on the importance of their policy project: why efforts toward clean heating are crucial for their client, as well as why its pursuit is valuable for Mongolia more broadly.
“Climate change transcends boundaries, borders, and distances. Clean heating is critical to climate action and also climate justice — this is how (this) small project of ours, far away in Mongolia, connected with people back here in Canada.”
“When you conduct field work, it's more than just gathering information — it's about building relationships. There's a lot of value in connecting with the people, really learning the local context, and showing up everyday (...) with this curiousity, care, and willingness to learn more.”
The students collectively found the work greatly rewarding; both personally and professionally. “We want not just the Global Green Growth Institute to engage with the Mongolian government in a way that they look at how the people will be able to adapt to green energy, but also get a sense of where the barriers lie,” Maha shares. “We are optimistic that some of the recommendations we have made act as the first step towards transitioning to green energy and clean heating in Mongolia.”
Read more about their project here.
