Global Clean Air

Underfunding the fight against air pollution is a crisis we must tackle at UNEA-6 and beyond

By Sergio Sanchez / Published: February 6, 2024

Addressing the enormous funding disparity for clean air solutions is essential to achieving global health, climate and sustainable development goals.

Air pollution affects almost everyone and carries severe consequences for public health, the environment and our climate, yet efforts to combat it are severely underfunded, especially in Latin America and the Global South. Less than 1% of development funding goes to air quality programming each year.

When leaders meet at the Sixth Session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) at the end of February in Nairobi, we have the opportunity to demonstrate how investing in air quality programs is a no-brainer that will deliver huge economic, health and environmental dividends.

Ignoring air pollution is expensive: A staggering 7 million die prematurely each year due to air pollution. But this astonishing statistic barely scratches the surface of the problem. The morbidities from air pollution, including chronic respiratory diseases, cardiovascular conditions and mental health deterioration are also costly. According to the World Bank, the economic toll of health impacts from air pollution totals $8.1 trillion annually, equivalent to 6.1% of the global GDP.

A disproportionate burden on the Global South: Regions across the Global South face a disproportionate share of the air pollution crisis, further aggravated by severe underfunding. For example, the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region received only 1% of all air quality funding spent worldwide between 2017-2021, according to a Clean Air Fund analysis. These areas, grappling with booming populations and escalating transport and industrial activities, confront unique challenges in combatting air pollution and are hindered by limited resources.

The link between air pollution and climate change: The connection between air pollution and climate change is intricate. Air pollution results from many of the same activities that are best known for emitting greenhouse gasses, such as fossil fuel-powered transportation, agricultural production and waste management. Cutting these emissions not only slows global warming but also improves immediate health outcomes by alleviating air pollution, offering enormous returns on investment for both human wellbeing and the climate.

Graphic source: The State of Global Air Quality Funding 2023, The Clean Air Fund

The societal and economic benefits: Addressing air pollution globally—especially in the Global South—can revolutionize societal well-being and spur economic growth. Every $1 spent on reducing air pollution returns about $30 in economic benefits, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Cleaner air leads to healthier communities, reduced healthcare costs, increased productivity and enhanced quality of life. It’s also a critical step toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

How key stakeholders can help: Every major sector will have a role to play if we are to tackle air pollution and achieve health, climate and sustainability objectives. Here is how.

Governments can help set a clean air agenda by prioritizing integrated clean air initiatives within national and subnational policies. This involves enforcing stringent emissions regulations, investing in sustainable infrastructure and allocating resources. Governments should also seek partnerships with the private sector to leverage additional resources and expertise. Aligning funding with regional priorities and international frameworks is also crucial for effective implementation.
Funders should lead the way in amending the funding imbalance by establishing dedicated financing mechanisms for new clean air projects and increasing access to climate and development funds. They can also help improve coordination between public and private sources to maximize impact per dollar and foster cross-sector collaboration.
Non-profit organizations are pivotal for raising awareness of the air pollution crisis and conveying the enormous economic, health and climate returns to clean air funding. Through strategic engagement with governments, funders, impacted communities and the private sector, the global civil society community can also strengthen the case for more equitable deployment of clean air funding across regions.
The private sector is vital for combating air pollution by striving to reduce emissions and investing in clean technologies. The World Economic Forum’s recent collaboration with the Clean Air Fund offers a sound example of how a joint endeavor with governments and civil society can help achieve universal clean air. Initiatives like this can empower businesses to contribute resources and innovation, promoting sustainable supply chains and assisting companies to meet emission reduction targets.

New opportunities: The Climate and Clean Air Coalition’s Clean Air Flagship announced at COP28 and the Draft Resolution on Air Pollution expected at UNEA-6 later this month represent big steps in the global collaboration against air pollution. While helping coordinate collective action, these initiatives must be accompanied by an unrelenting call for increased funding. The overwhelming economic, public health and environmental returns on such an investment should feature heavily in that call.

As we gear up for UNEA-6, recognizing the intertwined nature of air pollution, public health and climate change is crucial. Expanding funding and concerted action is not just an environmental or health necessity; it’s a moral imperative for the well-being of current and future generations. Now is the time for urgent, coordinated action to protect our planet and ensure clean air for all.

Sergio Sánchez is the Senior Policy Director of Global Clean Air for EDF Health, working globally to implement air pollution abatement policies and climate change mitigation strategies.

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EDF China unveils locally-tailored Air Tracker in Jinan

By EDF Web Team / Published: December 11, 2023

EDF China holds meeting to launch localized Air Tracker tool in Jinan in November, 2023. Photo courtesy of EDF China.

What’s new: EDF China recently unveiled its localized Air Tracker tool at a meeting with government officials and policy and academic experts in Jinan. The tool will help these and other policymakers to track and mitigate air pollution in support of China’s carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals.

What is Air Tracker?: Air Tracker is an innovative air quality monitoring tool developed by EDF, the University of Utah and the CREATE Lab at Carnegie Mellon University that uses real-time, trusted scientific models to help users see where air pollution is coming from. The tool is currently operational in five U.S. cities, with plans to expand globally.

To adapt Air Tracker’s technology for use in China, EDF China collaborated with the Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning and Tsinghua University on joint research projects in Jinan, a city with more than 9 million residents. Jinan was an ideal location to deploy the technology in part because it has an urgent need to further reduce air pollution levels. Concentrations of fine particles (PM2.5), sometimes called soot, stood at 40 μg/m3 in Jinan in 2022. These exceed China’s national standards (35 μg/m3), which are 7 times weaker than the World Health Organization’s recommended limits (5 μg/m3).

What we know: Tsinghua University developed a monitoring approach that utilizes meteorological, emission and observational data from monitoring stations, which complements Air Tracker. By incorporating both approaches, the new, localized Air Tracker tool will pinpoint pollution sources and inform targeted control

Why it matters: This new tool allows users to quantify the contributions of different emission sources through near-real-time data collection. This will allow government officials to develop targeted control measures to reduce air pollution and carbon emissions.

Both China and the United States have committed to jointly addressing the climate crisis. The newly localized Air Tracker tool is an example of the ways the two countries plan to promote policies and technologies that control greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.

Next steps: EDF China and our partners—including the Tsinghua University, Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning and Jinan Environmental Research Academy—will test the localized Air Tracker this winter in Jinan. The team also will seek input from key government partners who were present at the launch, including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China (MEE) and the Jinan Municipal Ecology and Economic Bureau.

The lessons learned from this pilot phase will provide valuable insights to other cities in the Global South who may also benefit from Air Tracker or similar technologies. The learnings will likely also inform future expansions of the tool to other cities in China and around the world.

Learn more about EDF’s Air Tracker tool at globalcleanair.org/AirTracker.

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Efforts to fight air pollution are severely underfunded. Leaders in Latin America and across the Global South are calling for change at COP28 and beyond

By Derek Schwabe / Published: November 30, 2023

The Forum of Ministers of the Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean convenes in Panama City, Panama in October 2023. The Forum plays a crucial role in shaping and building consensus around environmental policies.

What’s new: The ministers of environment representing 33 countries in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region recently issued a joint declaration calling out the yawning gap between the funds needed to address the global air pollution crisis and the funds currently committed. The declaration is noteworthy because it has set a tone for influential global dialogues happening this week at COP28 and in February at the 6^th session of the United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA-6).

Why it matters: 99% of the world’s population now breathes unhealthy air. As a result, more than 8 million people die prematurely each year due to fossil fuel-driven air pollution, making it the 4^th leading cause of death worldwide. Despite the staggering human costs, currently only 1% of development funding goes to programs aimed at improving air quality each year.

The LAC region is one of the most underfunded when it comes to air quality. Expanding investments in air quality would help the region reach its climate goals and improve health outcomes. It could also set the stage for scaling investments in air quality in underfunded regions across the Global South.

The details: In the declaration, ministers stressed the need for regional and global coordination. They also called upon the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)—which is responsible for leading implementation—to provide technical support to countries as they enact key policies, like air quality standards and management plans. Specific actions requested of UNEP include:

Leading the implementation of the Regional Action Plan on Air Quality and mobilizing the resources needed to support it;
Helping countries strengthen legal frameworks to prevent and reduce air pollution by adopting air quality standards and developing plans for crucial sectors;
Encouraging countries to act boldly to abate emissions of short-lived climate pollutants;
Promoting best practices, infrastructure and sustainable transport initiatives that can ensure a just transition in hot spots, especially large cities.

What they’re saying: Senior Policy Director of Global Clean Air, Sergio Sanchez, spoke of the declaration: “This declaration marks a bold step toward realizing the vision of a thriving LAC region. When we act collectively to cut air pollution, we act to meet the climate crisis, strengthen our economy and dramatically improve health. We will continue to support the regional and global partnerships needed to mobilize this action at COP 28, UNEA-6 and beyond.”

What EDF is doing: In September 2022, EDF and UNEP launched a joint initiative to help LAC countries develop funding-ready clean air projects. Since then, EDF has continued to grow that effort by:

Helping UNEP implement the Regional Action Plan to coordinate strategic investments.
Convening two major international workshops to reactivate the region’s Intergovernmental Network on Air Pollution. These workshops have fostered new partnerships and high-impact projects backed by participant governments and global partners, such as the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) and the OECD.
Hosting a side event at the 2023 LAC Climate Week, focused on mobilizing greater financing for air quality in the region. The event debuted a new video that lays out how such actions could transform population health and power economic growth.
Serving on the Climate and Clean Air Coalition task force, which is dedicated to designing the Clean Air Flagship, set to launch at COP28. The purpose of the Flagship is to enhance funding and cooperation efforts globally.

What’s next: As leaders from all sectors gather at COP28, LAC leaders have an opportunity to take their call to the global stage. It’s a chance to join with governments from across world—especially other neglected regions—to demand that the air pollution crisis receives the funding it requires.

Leaders will have a second opportunity at UNEA-6 to secure greater investments in air quality by having the global assembly ratify regional calls for broader support. If ratified, UNEP would be tasked with implementing the declaration of the global assembly. Ratification would give UNEP some additional budget—and a stronger mandate to take to donor governments and agencies.

Learn more about our clean air partnership with UNEP and LAC countries at globalcleanair.org/LAC.

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Vital global initiative will accelerate clean air solutions in cities

By Sarah Vogel / Published: March 19, 2021

Everybody deserves the right to breathe clean air. Yet air pollution is choking cities and communities around the world – a staggering 9 in 10 people breathe unhealthy air.

City leaders need to urgently identify and accelerate solutions across the world. That’s why the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is launching a bold initiative – called Clean Air Catalyst – to help cities around the world reduce air pollution by advancing solutions that protect health, promote equitable prosperity and tackle the climate crisis. Through a global consortium of organizations led by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Clean Air Catalyst will begin in two pilot cities: Indore, India, and Jakarta, Indonesia. In Jakarta, WRI Indonesia is the implementing organization.

To mark the initiative’s official launch, hundreds of people from around the world attended a virtual conversation on clean air, health and climate solutions with U.S. Senator Bob Menendez and USAID’s Karl Fickenscher, as well as representatives from partners and the pilot cities. Here’s what you need to know.

Also posted in Climate, Concerned Citizen, Environmental Justice, Government Official/Policymaker, Health, Homepage, Partners / Comments are closed

Global Clean Air Blog: How we make pollution more visible

By sakennard / Published: October 27, 2020

By Sarah Vogel, Ph.D., VP Health

When we’re outside, either walking or driving, we’re instinctively looking out for traffic. “Look both ways when you cross the street,” is advice drummed into most children.

But even so, we all have blind spots, and we’re not aware of the present danger polluting cars and trucks bring into our daily lives.

Our new video shows that although air pollution from vehicle exhaust is invisible, its damage to our health is visible and deadly.

EDF’s Global Clean Air Initiative has spent years researching air pollution in cities around the world. Our pioneering work with Google Earth Outreach, academic, community and government partners in Oakland, Houston and London shows that levels of air pollution vary much more widely than was previously known. In Oakland, we now know that levels of air pollution can vary by up to eight times within one city block. We’ve been working to visualize local pollution and its impacts in order to support targeted policies for cleaner air especially in those communities hardest hit by pollution. But we also recognized the need to make the experience of pollution more visible and more personal to each one of us as we walk down a city street.

Animated Reality Video based on EDF data

We developed a new animated reality video showing the path that pollution takes from tailpipe into the body. Our video was shot in a location in Houston, Texas, in a residential community that lies adjacent to a major freeway where EDF measured high levels of particulates and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) in our 2017-2018 hyperlocal air quality monitoring study, and where the residents experience elevated rates of adult asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, and stroke compared to other neighborhoods in the city.

The video begins with a drone video shot gliding over a busy highway, where the pollution coming from cars and trucks is shown as a half-pipe expanding in 3D. The camera then focuses on a mother and her daughter (both actors) walking down a street–we follow them as they pass trucks and are engulfed in animated pollution particles from exhaust emissions.

Millions of pollution particles in each breath

Pollution is animated as yellow waves of pollution simulating swirling gases, and small, black and yellow animated dots to represent microscopic particles of pollution. According to Adam Nieman of Real World Visuals who worked on this project, a single breath at East Loop South in Houston may contain 18 million particles.1

“The number of particles per breath varies by location and the proximity to different sources of air pollution,” Ramon Alvarez, EDF’s associate chief scientist notes. Regardless of the precise location in an urban area, most people are unaware they can be breathing in millions of pollution particles with each breath.”

Health risks of pollution from transportation

In the video, the animated pollutants travel from tailpipe to trachea, and deep into the young girl’s lungs. EDF epidemiologist Maria Harris shared, “Even short-term exposure to diesel exhaust can cause health impacts, including headaches, dizziness, and eye, nose and throat irritation. Regular exposure to diesel exhaust over time can cause lung cancer, as well as heart disease and other respiratory diseases. Children, whose lungs are still developing, are especially at risk for the respiratory impacts of diesel exposure. Seniors or others with chronic health issues are also at higher risk for respiratory and cardiovascular effects.”

To reduce diesel exposure, Harris suggests trying to limit time walking, biking, or driving on roads with heavy diesel truck or bus traffic, and avoiding areas where diesel trucks or buses idle.

But if we are to build healthy and resilient communities, we need to dramatically cut the emissions from the burning of oil and gas used in transportation, especially cars and trucks.

Benefits for health and climate

In addition to producing harmful air pollution, cars and light trucks account for about 45 percent of all U.S. oil consumption and more than 20 percent of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

Globally, climate emissions from large vehicles are on pace to double in the next 30 years. To reverse this trend and transform large vehicles into a critical part of a 100% clean economy, the global fleet must complete a near-total transition to zero-emission trucks and buses.

Electric trucks can help protect driver’s health

Every day, trucks and buses carry the goods, packages and people that keep our economy running. Usually powered by diesel engines, they are among the dirtiest vehicles on the road.

In the video, the actor portraying a delivery driver is exposed to the invisible pollution. Truck drivers often have high occupational exposure to diesel exhaust, which may put them at elevated risk of lung cancer and cardiovascular and respiratory disease. Cabin air filtration systems can help reduce diesel exposure for truck drivers. But ultimately, the best approach for protecting drivers and the communities they drive through is to shift to electric trucks and buses.

With electric vehicles, a zero-emission future that benefits the environment, people and economy is possible.

Take Action for Healthier Solutions

Now that you’ve seen how dangerous air pollution is to our health, we invite you to join the virtual community assembled at GlobalCleanAir.org and help us bring cleaner air to communities around the world. Also, we hope you join the global conversation about public health and clean air on Twitter @EDFCleanAir.

On the site you’ll learn about the health impacts of different air pollutants, case studies on innovative air quality monitoring across the world, tools to implement community-wide strategies where you live, and tips we can all take to clean the air we breathe. We encourage you to visit, and sign up for our monthly newsletter and advocacy action alerts.

Video Script and Sources

Below are facts cited in the video script, listed with links to their sources.
What if invisible pollution became visible?

1. Around the world, nine out of 10 people breathe unhealthy air. (Source: World Health Organization)
2. FACTOID: Exhaust from [diesel and gasoline] cars and trucks contains pollutants like nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter that can cause heart and lung disease. (Source: US EPA)
3. FACTOID: With every breath, a person on this street will inhale harmful gases and millions of tiny particles. (Source: EDF)
4. FACTOID: Particulates can penetrate deep into the lungs and even enter the bloodstream. Nitrogen dioxide can inflame airways and cause asthma attacks. (Source: American Lung Association)
5. FACTOID: About 4 million children worldwide develop asthma each year from breathing nitrogen dioxide. (Source: George Washington University)
6. Air pollution can cross the placenta and may harm babies’ brain development. (Source: Project TENDR)

Air pollution is invisible, but it damages our health and is sometimes deadly.

Healthier solutions are here.

1.The pollution particle count in the EDF Houston data (near the East Loop South highway) was 36,000 particles per cubic centimeter. The average ‘tidal volume’ of an adult breath is 0.5 litres, which means that a single breath at East Loop South would contain about 18 million pollution particles.

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