Breathe Mongolia
Mongolia
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Breathe Mongolia’s primary mission is to provide viable solutions to air pollution worldwide, starting with Mongolia. Annually in Mongolia, ambient (outside) and household air pollution cause 7150 deaths and 1.47 billion USD in economic losses, equivalent to 7.2% of the national GDP. To a large extent, the technical solutions to air pollution and the climate crisis already exist. However, what is in the air is not simply toxic pollutants. It is a systemic failure, energy insecurity, deep socioeconomic inequity, political corruption, and the climate crisis.
Breathe Mongolia is an international community of changemakers working to end Mongolia’s air pollution crisis to protect the global climate. They aim to ensure a sustainable future with clean air and a healthy environment by transforming policies and narratives, educating communities, and advancing collaborative solutions. By visualising the problems as different parts of a system that interact and influence one another, this team are building cross-sectoral coalitions to address air pollution, promote climate solutions, support just energy transitions, strengthen health systems, and champion environmental justice. They believe that if individuals are better informed, they are more prepared to protect themselves and take a stand on the issue.
Breathe Mongolia’s holistic approach is to provide public education and influence multi-level stakeholders, ensuring that policies across the climate change and clean air sectors align. Air pollution and climate change share key characteristics: both are deeply interconnected with broader systemic issues, and often stem from overlapping root causes. With this understanding informing their work, Breathe Monoglia is working to ensure that breathing clean air is a fundamental human right.
In 2018, young Mongols organised a protest in New York City, raising awareness about the deadly air pollution in Mongolia under the #BreatheMongolia hashtag. The protest inspired other concerned Mongols and global citizens worldwide, and the founders met and created Breathe Mongolia – Clean Air Coalition, a nonprofit. Now, the Breathe Mongolia platform serves as a central collaboration, watchdog, and knowledge centre hub for the fight against air pollution in Mongolia. A core team runs it and volunteers that span three continents, nine countries, and five nationalities.
Together, Breathe Mongolia’s team represents a variety of professional and personal backgrounds, enabling Breathe Mongolia to fight climate change and air pollution from multiple angles. Additionally, Breathe Mongolia was founded and led by strong women. Enkhuun, one of the Breathe Mongolia co-founders, is an environmental human rights advocate who works to arm communities and young people with the resources to make the right to a clean, healthy, safe, and sustainable environment a reality.
Their impact spans public education on air pollution and climate change, influencing multi-level stakeholders. More recently, they have expanded their focus on climate change, health, and air pollution to address them systematically because health damages remain uncompensated. They have also integrated the civic societies’ statements on recommendations for tackling air pollution and climate crises throughout the country, not only in the capital.
They are about to initiate policy changes by making all communities’ voices heard by decision-makers. Breathe Mongolia continues to deepen and expand their work in Mongolia and across Central Asia.
