Blog 11 December 2024
Air pollution is bad for our health, planet and economies. It can be difficult to comprehend the scale of the challenge, let alone track the impact of interventions deployed to tackle it.
In 2024, the air quality movement continued to make strides towards a world where everyone breathes clean air. Read on as we quantify the year that was: clean air achievements in numbers.
1 billion
$1 billion was pledged to de-risk air quality projects by the World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). These financial guarantees aim to encourage more investment in clean air projects in the global south.
Many low- and middle-income countries are heavily polluted and bear the brunt of the associated costs to the health of their residents and the productivity of their economies. Most international development finance for air quality projects is provided as loans at market rates, and countries may not be able to afford more debt to clean their air. The MIGA guarantee provides an extra layer of protection to public and private investors, and reduces the costs of capital, driving forward air quality finance.
55%
The EU has agreed legislation which is expected to cut early deaths associated with air pollution by 55%. EU member states have committed to implement some of the world’s most progressive air quality legislation. The revised Ambient Air Quality Directive (AAQD) sets out binding standards for member states to bring their emissions levels much closer to WHO guidelines by 2030, and fully in line by 2035. If fully implemented, the legislation will deliver gross annual benefits of up to €121 billion (primarily health, economic and environmental benefits) by 2030.
536
536 organisations have contributed to a new Air Quality Management exchange platform (AQMx), designed to build capacity among air quality managers worldwide. Launched by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition in September, this ‘one-stop-shop’ for technical tools, models, data, and knowledge has already amassed 813 resources covering 16 different themes.
The platform follows recommendations from our 2022 needs assessment report showing that a lack of technical capacity and other knowledge on air quality management is the greatest challenge facing air quality managers (behind a lack of funding), particularly in Africa, Latin America and Asia. These efforts led to a landmark UN Environment Assembly resolution in March mandating the creation of AQMx.
4,000
Our partner Green Africa Youth Organisation (GAYO) plans to divert 4,000 tonnes of waste from open burning in Ghana by 2030. Open waste burning is a major contributor to the country’s air pollution levels, and poor air quality is the second largest health threat in the country. Through its work to prevent waste from ending up in landfills and diverting it from open burning, GAYO is aiming to reduce these levels by 70% by 2030.
It’s for these efforts that GAYO beat 2,500 other organisations to be one of just five to win the prestigious £1m Earthshot Prize in the Clean Our Air category.
204
The State of Global Air 2024 is the most comprehensive analysis of air pollution and its health impacts, covering 204 countries and territories from 1990–2021. This important data resource revealed that 8.1 million people died prematurely due to air pollution in just one year (2021). Horrifically this year, air pollution also overtook smoking as the 2nd largest global risk factor for death.
The State of Global Air provides credible evidence of the health effects of particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone in an accessible way. This vital resource equips clean air advocates around the world with credible data to inform action on air pollution.
14
14 cities are officially part of the Breathe Cities initiative, which aims to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gases in participating cities by 30% by 2030. Three new cities joined this year – Bangkok, Bogotá and Mexico City – and work is already underway in cities from Jakarta to Accra.
Many of these cities have taken tangible action for clean air this year, with two low emissions zones (LEZ) for transport implemented in Warsaw and Sofia, the upcoming launch of a LEZ for heating in Sofia (a first of its kind in Eastern and South East Europe), and the launch of the Limited Traffic Zone (LTZ) in the Paris city centre.
