Smart economics: tackle climate change and air pollution together

Smart economics: tackle climate change and air pollution together

While air pollution has often been treated as an inevitable price of rapid economic growth, polluted air itself imposes many enormous costs

Indonesia continues to battle some of its worst wildfires in years, spreading toxic haze to Malaysia and Singapore. Floods have devastated communities in Thailand, India and Nepal. Kathmandu is also seeking climate justice after a catastrophic collapse of rock and glacier ice near its border with China.

Another environmental tragedy unfolds without such dramatic images. Across the world, millions of lives are lost each year to polluted air. Many more people live with debilitating illnesses that strain household finances, overwhelm health services and keep them from working.

Governments that plan and budget for climate change and air pollution separately miss opportunities to protect health and strengthen their economies through the same investment.