Air Pollution Knows No Borders in South Asia, Neither Do Solutions

In the eastern state of West Bengal in India, a unique initiative is underway to clean the air. The state administration is providing 12 million students with bicycles to encourage cleaner modes of transport. Neighboring country Bangladesh has a brick-kiln tracker, which uses remote sensing technology to track emissions and guide targeted action against highly polluting and illegal kilns.

From these innovative solutions to the rollout of electric buses and e-rickshaws, the use of mechanical composters to reduce crop burning, promoting clean cooking and more, the countries of the Indo-Gangetic Plain and Himalayan Foothills (IGP-HF) are acting against the scourge of air pollution. The IGP-HF region, which is considered a global hotspot of air pollution, spans Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, India, and Pakistan.

These countries are also focusing on advancing monitoring and measurement, analytics and data that can inform policy, and targeted action to curb key contributing sources—some of which are unique to the region.

While national targets and action plans are being rolled out, there is also a stronger consensus that the countries or states cannot succeed working in isolation. Cooperation and coordination across borders, and among multiple agencies and jurisdictions are essential.

Transboundary, multisectoral, coordinated solutions

Across many of the major cities in South Asia, over 50 percent of air pollution is not local but transboundary in nature, traveling from a neighboring city, state, or even country. In the five countries of the IGP-HF region, the main sources of pollution include household cooking, transport, crop residue burning, inefficient fertilizer use, industries and power plants. Oftentimes the responsibilities for these sectors are distributed across an array of government ministries and departments.

Synchronized and multi-sectoral solutions, along with knowledge sharing and technical cooperation across jurisdictions and borders, can yield better results, faster, and at lower costs. In Striving for Clean Air: Air Pollution and Public Health in South Asia, the World Bank estimates that coordinated measures across sectors and borders within South Asia are 45 percent less costly than ad hoc measures that do not involve coordination or cooperation.

At the recent Regional Science Policy Dialogue (SPD) held in Thimphu, Bhutan in June 2024—which brought together more than 50 government representatives from the IGP-HF countries, scientists, and development and financing partners—there was a strong consensus on the value of coordinated and collaborative efforts.

From the Kathmandu Roadmap of the first SPD in 2022, which highlighted the role of science and analytics in defining policy measures and emphasized transboundary approaches, the needle is moving toward greater technical cooperation, knowledge sharing, and building capacity for the use of harmonized methodologies for air quality management.  The Thimphu Outcome 2024 emphasized the need for accelerated actions to comply with National Ambient Air Quality Standards, and for considering an aspirational goal of < 35 μg/m3 for annual PM2.5 concentrations by 2035 (“35 by 35”).

Role of financing partners is critical

Between 2015 and 2022, only 0.7 percent ($17.3 billion) of the total international development funding was committed to tackling ambient air pollution​—a chronic underfunding that threatens to limit impact at scale. Countries need sufficient and predictable financing to implement both short and long-term measures.

South Asian countries are exploring various measures to leverage funding and investment opportunities. These include innovative financing, alliances of funding agencies and development partners, public-private partnerships, and fiscal policies and incentives that can enhance the use of greener technologies.

Lessons from international experiences

In 1960s, when the scientists across Europe were investigating high levels of acid deposits in lakes and rivers, which led to volumes of fish dying, they concluded that air pollutants emitted thousands of miles away were causing the harm. This scientific evidence that air pollutants travel long distances set the stage for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) in 1979— the first and the oldest multilateral agreement on clean air signed by 51 partners.

Successful international agreements on cooperation, including the CLRTAP, have a few building blocks that could guide and inspire South Asia in developing its own regional framework. For instance, the central role of science in policy making; scientific and technical coordination; ensuring long-term financing; role of regional institutions and networks; voluntary agreements for faster results; and strengthening accountability and trust over time.

The World Bank Group’s expanding role

The World Bank Group’s (WBG) deep commitment to supporting air quality management is reflected in its pipeline of projects, both at the state and country level across the IGP-HF region. The projects under preparation in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana in India as well as in Bangladesh and Nepal, have a strong focus on cost-effective and transboundary approaches. They will also support actions that have considerable climate change co-benefits through reductions in carbon dioxide, black carbon, and methane.

The WBG is also leveraging its convening power to bring countries together to understand the need for and the efficacy of collective action. During the IMF-WBG Spring Meetings 2024 and the UN Climate Conference (COP28) in 2023, South Asian policy makers and relevant stakeholders pledged to double down on air pollution. The WBG also enabled dialogues between the countries on transboundary air quality management in IGP-HF at the Asia Pacific Climate Week in Johor, Baruah, and the Better Air Quality Asia event in Manila in November 2023.

Looking ahead, the upcoming United Nations General Assembly, the World Bank Annual Meetings 2024, and COP29 are pivotal global opportunities to reinforce and accelerate progress. As the dialogue unfolds, it can pave the way for impactful and collaborative actions. Just as air pollution knows no boundaries, neither do the solutions.