Gender and Waste Nexus: Experiences from Bhutan, Mongolia and Nepal

Mongolia

Figure 3. Satellite image of north-west Ulaanbaatar. Satellite images show the stark division between Ulaanbaatar’s ger area (top) and apartment buildings (bottom). Source: Google Earth Version 7.3.2.5491. 30 September 2018. Ulaanbatar, Mongolia. 47°55’40.30”N, 106°52’26.63”E. Digital Globe (2018).

Waste context

The new law on energy and renewable energy aims to increase the share of renewable energy in total primary energy sources to 30 per cent by 2030. Renewable energy targets have been set in two primary policy and legal documents: first, the Green Development Policy, adopted in 2014, which set the goal of increasing Mongolia’s share of renewable energy used in total energyproduction to 20 per cent by 2020 and 30 per cent by 2030, and second, the State Policy on Energy 2015– 2030, approved by parliament in 2015, which outlined short- and medium-term development scenarios and set a similar goal of increasing the contribution of renewable energy to the country’s total installed power- generation capacity to 20 per cent by 2023 and 30 per cent by 2030. In Mongolia’s INDC, mitigation of waste sector emissions is mentioned only as an additional action, with respect to the “development of a waste management plan, including recycling, waste-to-energy, and best management practices”. 9 No commitments were made in terms of gender, nor did any take a gender perspective.

The effectiveness and challenges of waste management in Ulaanbaatar vary depending on area and season. Around 40 per cent of Ulaanbaatar’s population lives in apartment buildings, while the remaining 60 per cent lives in ger districts surrounding the city centre. 10 In ger districts, the main types of dwelling are gers, which are Mongolian portable tents traditionally used by nomadic herders, and detached houses, built by those living in them. In 2011, most of the 40,000 people migrating to Ulaanbaatar settled in ger areas, a pattern that is expected to continue and which poses major challenges for urbanplanning and specifically thewaste management sector (Asian Institute of Technology 2016). Most parts of the ger districts do not have electricity and are not connected to many services, including sewerage systems. Poor road infrastructure (unpaved, narrow, steep roads and paths that are icy in winter) makes it challenging for waste companies to

Gender and waste nexus

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