News 22 July 2024
Air pollution harms us all. It causes around 8 million premature deaths every year – more than twice as many as from malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS combined – and blights human and economic development. Despite this, our latest State of Air Quality Funding 2023 report found that less than 1% of international development funding and 0.1% of global philanthropic funding is being spent on tackling air pollution.
Tackling air pollution is our collective imperative. Our Common Air, a new global commission chaired by former Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark and former Chief Scientist of the World Health Organization (WHO) Soumya Swaminathan, aims to accelerate action on air quality. As one of its 18 commissioners – between us, we bring expertise from business, finance, science and policy – we urge financial institutions to invest more heavily in clean air programmes and better track the economic benefits that clean air brings.
In a year when citizens from across 80 countries elect new governments, access to clean air should be a political priority given the health, economic and environmental impacts at stake. However, at the moment, 9 in 10 citizens will be going to polling stations while breathing toxic air. Air pollution is also a silent killer that hits marginalised communities the hardest, even though they’re the least responsible for it. Children under five who live in a lower income country are 60 times more likely to die from air pollution.
Change needs to happen – but to do this, we first need to rewrite the narrative around clean air. Our Common Air calls for six shifts in attitudes to inspire global action on air pollution.
Stop seeing air pollution as a cost and start seeing clean air as an asset
Approximately 1.2 billion workdays are lost globally each year due to air pollution and it’s estimated to reach 3.8 billion days by 2060. Air pollution reduces crop yields, which has an impact on food security. On the flipside, the Confederation of British Industry reported that, simply by meeting WHO guidelines on air pollution, £1.6 billion could be added to the UK economy every year. The US Environmental Protection Agency found that every $1 spent on air pollution control yields an estimated $30 in economic benefits. The list of economic benefits of clean air goes on and on.
Governments, businesses, investors, and multilateral development banks need to recognise and quantify the economic value that clean air creates. Clean air is an economic asset. Investment is needed to make clean air a reality, but the benefits of clean air outweigh costs – it can reduce health and productivity-related losses, drive new models of economic growth, and promote sustainable businesses.
Use data to support action on clean air
Government interventions to promote clean air have a higher chance of being effective when they are backed by comprehensive, location-specific data on air pollution and better emissions monitoring. Policymakers and regulators can ensure the availability of this information by collaborating with research and civil society organisations, while citizens can push institutions to build better monitoring systems or make existing information transparent, and/or provide air pollution data themselves. With compelling data, it’s hard to argue against the importance of clean air and why further measures are needed to improve air quality.
Take collective responsibility for clean air
Air quality initiatives need to be scaled and plans for clean air should be tailored to the needs of different sectors, while simultaneously ensuring that cross-sector efforts are coordinated effectively to maximise impact. Tackling air pollution can unlock mutual benefits for different parts of the economy. For example, an emphasis on making public transport greener can create business opportunities for electric buses as well as create demand for renewable power generation. Incentivising clean construction methods can promote the use of more sustainable materials, while dust control measures on construction sites can support the creation of sustainable urban waste management regulations.
Prioritise prevention over cure
The global cost of the health damage due to air pollution amounts to $8.1 trillion a year, equal to 6.1% of global GDP. Preventative measures are more cost-effective. Through action on air pollution, savings on public health could be redirected towards subsidising air pollution reduction technologies or to incentivise businesses to use cleaner energy sources.
Where public spending on health is limited, such “savings” might not be evident upfront. But as air pollution continues to harm public health, the long-term consequences for the economy, such as through employees’ missing work days due to health issues caused by air pollution, will incentivise investment in clean air.
Think of cleaning the air as an investment opportunity rather than a cost
Phasing down fossil fuels, which are the main source of air pollution, comes with the opportunity to scale up clean energy and transport. The State of Global Air Quality Funding 2023 showed us that we’re on the right track to achieve this, as there has been a decline in funding for fossil fuel-prolonging projects. In 2021, for the first time, international development funding for outdoor air quality projects ($2.3 billion) exceeded funding for fossil fuel-prolonging projects ($1.5 billion). This suggests momentum to phase down fossil fuels.
But we’re not over the line yet – we need to replace fossil fuels with clean energy sources. Clean energy investment needs to reach $4.5 trillion a year by 2030 to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. In September 2023, G20 leaders endorsed a Green Development Pact, which recognised that $5.9 trillion was needed by developing countries to achieve their climate targets by 2030, as well as $4 trillion a year for clean energy. We should see investing in clean energy as a way to reduce air pollution, which is beneficial for our health and planet, and offers investors a payout in the long run.
Action on air pollution addresses several Sustainable Development Goals at once
Action on air pollution, such as scaling renewable energy sources for small businesses, improving clean-cooking systems, and making transport greener, improves health and puts people at the centre of the benefits that clean air brings. It also helps advance several Sustainable Development Goals simultaneously, including those centred on social equity, health, energy, sustainable cities, sustainable production and consumption, and climate action.
Air pollution is an urgent problem. It affects people and our planet by damaging our health, hurting our bank accounts and the economy, and making climate change worse. And yet funding for clean air does not match the gravity of the situation – it continues to be chronically underfunded. To see effective action against air pollution and drive it higher up the political agenda, we need to change our narrative around it. This will not just benefit us and our children, but also make the planet liveable for generations to come.
This article was originally published in the Air Quality News magazine
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