Mongolia shows the birthing pains of a green economy

AS WE drive across the Mongolian steppes, the contrasts are striking. A nomadic horseman herds cattle among shadows cast by the nation's first wind farm, while a few hundred metres away, a train with more than 60 carriages ships coal from an enormous mine. Back in the capital Ulan Bator, the world's second most polluted city, lives President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, one of five UN Champions of the Earth for 2012. Mongolia is not alone: these trials face all nations seeking a green path to rapid economic growth.

The wind farm at Salkhit Uul, or "Windy Mountain", opened on 5 June, coinciding with World Environment Day. This year, the occasion was hosted by Mongolia, a country the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) says is setting an example for how to roll out sustainable development. In 2012 the country's GDP grew 12.3 per cent, making it one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

Building the wind farm was no easy task. The site is too windy for workers to safely erect turbines for more than a few hours a day. Once up, harsh winter temperatures, which can reach -40 °C, are problematic. "If it's humid, the blades can frost," says site operation manager Joeran Buethe. This changes their aerodynamics, and power is lost.

Mongolia is the first nation to create a ministerial portfolio of "green development". It has taken steps to protect certain lands and water, and it has put a moratorium on new mining exploration licences. But it isn't all good news. The 50-megawatt wind farm will save 18,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide and 1.6 million tonnes of water each year, compared to coal power. It's a start, but pales in comparison with the impact of three planned coal-fired power stations with a combined generation of 1650 megawatts. Sanjaasuren Oyun, minister for environment and green development, speaks passionately about her mission, yet her nation's development depends on income from mining. So she is overseeing operations at one of the largest gold and copper deposits in the world, using methods that could leave the site unable to be rehabilitated, and depleting aquifers that the Gobi desert herders rely on. Mongolia's struggle to balance its economic needs with green ambitions is exactly what's happening across the developing world, says renewable energy consultant Jigar Shah. The country is at a cross-roads, says UNEP's executive director, Achim Steiner. "[It has] a fundamental choice between a development path that triggers increasing social exclusion, environmental degradation and significant economic costs. Or one that recognises that vast mineral wealth and abundant potential for clean energy can be engines for poverty eradication, decent jobs and sustainable development."

This article appeared in print under the headline "The birthing pains of a green economy"

Michael Slezak travelled to Mongolia aspart of a UNEP-sponsored trip