The history of progress on air pollution reveals that improvements in air quality were preceded by the public demanding improvements and causing air quality to become a political priority. The foundation for these demands is data that illustrates the depth of the problem and then, later, data to assess progress. Advances in sensor technologies mean that there are now options available for citizen ...

As electric and hybrid-electric buses gradually become a reality worldwide, achieving a better understanding of the mechanisms supporting investments in these new technologies as well as their assets is more important than ever. The global electric bus fleet grew about 32 percent in 2018, and it represents the fastest-growing part of the electric vehicle market. Nevertheless, capital costs for ful...

Electric buses, which have zero tailpipe emissions, hold the potential to provide outsized air quality and climate benefits. Faster adoption of cleaner buses is an important part of the bigger climate solution, helping put cities on track towards sustainability. Despite the promise of electric buses, however, their adoption has been uneven and varied in scale. Implementation has not accelerated fa...

Interest in co-benefits—the multiple benefits from mitigating climate change while addressing other sustainability challenges—has grown as policymakers seek to lower the costs of decarbonization. Much of this interest stems from data-driven models that quantify how much improved air quality, better health, and other co-benefits can offset those costs. However, co-benefits research often features t...

The OECD started building the PINE database in the 1990s, initially with a limited policy scope. Today, the database includes information on taxes and fees, subsidies, tradable permits and offsets, deposit-refund schemes and voluntary approaches relevant to 22 environmental domains. The information in the PINE database is collected via a network of country experts (including government agencies, r...

This report quantifies the environmental, health and economic consequences of policy action on air pollution in Arctic Council countries, with a focus on sectoral differences. The report takes a modelling approach and compares a baseline scenario that reflects current legislation, with a policy scenario in which the best available techniques to reduce emissions are deployed in all emitting sectors...

Air pollution is a global challenge to people’s health and has severe economic consequences. The region of Northeast Asia is no exception. Across most regions in Japan, and in the entire territories of Korea and China, annual average concentrations of fine particulate matter are above the guideline levels indicated by the World Health Organisation, indicating a risk to health. Policy action to tac...

Reducing air pollution is a major policy challenge, especially in densely populated urban areas where human exposure to emissions is considerable. This paper develops and examines a series of scenarios for the evolution of transport-related emissions in the area of Santiago, Chile. The analysis suggests that ramping up efforts to electrify the bus fleet may eliminate 25% of the CO2 and at least 10...

The Asia-Pacific Regional Action Programme on Air Pollution (RAPAP) was adopted in 2022 by ESCAP Member States. It aims to promote clean air for all in Asia and the Pacific through:Promoting science-based and policy-oriented cooperationEstablishing a regional platform for best practices exchangePromoting domestic actions and regional cooperationIdentifying technical and financial resources for mul...

Fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) is the greatest external threat to public health with the average person on the planet losing more than 2 years of life expectancy according to the Air Quality Life Index, with the loss even higher at 3.1 years outside of OECD countries. Why is reliable air quality monitoring so important for addressing air pollution? The history of progress on air pollu...