The polluted air is caused in part by settlements that encircle the city in what is called the Ger District, where poor families burn black market raw coal as well as tires, plastic bottles, and other waste in their dwellings, called yurts, to keep warm in the cold winters. Four large coal plants in Ulaanbaatar also add to the pollution.
“Air pollution has become a child health crisis in Ulaanbaatar, putting every child and pregnancy at risk,” according to the UNICEF report.
The U.N. agency also reported that the city’s smog was so toxic that Mongolian children living in a highly polluted district of Ulaanbaatar had 40% lower lung function than children living in the countryside. A study at a Mongolian hospital found that seasonal air pollutants correlated strongly with a 3.6-fold increased rate of miscarriage in the capital. In response to public health consequences, the Mongolian government banned raw coal consumption in 2019, but the city is still dealing with the fallout of ongoing air pollution.
Mongolia is also set apart by its rich mineral resources, including uranium, copper, gold, and other rare earth reserves. Many foreign countries, including Japan, the U.S., and China, have mining ventures in Mongolia. Pope Francis could also highlight this issue, as he did in his trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo earlier this year where he made headlines by calling out exploitative mining, saying: “Hands off Africa!”
Pope Francis is reportedly planning to release the new updated version of Laudato Si’ on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi on Oct. 4, according to Hungarian President Katalyn Novák, who met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Aug. 25.