UNEP also addressed other forms of air pollution, which claims about 7 million lives annually. 

The UNEP-convened Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) supported 68 countries in implementing policies to reduce super pollutants, substances that both sully the air and spur global warming. This support, which included US$22 million in funding, focused on countries in the Global South and worked with a range of high-emitting industries. 

The CCAC, implementing a UN Environment Assembly resolution, launched the Air Quality Management Exchange Platform, a one-stop knowledge hub designed to back goverments’ efforts to develop evidence-based policies for cleaner air. 

The Asia Pacific Clean Air Partnership advised eight countries as they developed clean air policies. That included Thailand, which UNEP advised on a new clean air act. UNEP also produced a technical report that contributed to the strengthening of the country’s outdoor air quality standards. 

African environment ministers officially endorsed a new regional roadmap that aims to reduce the open burning of waste by 60 per cent by 2030 and eliminate it entirely by 2040. The plan was developed with support from the CCAC. As well, with backing from the CCAC, the environment ministers from the G20 adopted a declaration calling for more decisive action on short-lived climate pollutants. 

Finally, in October, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations passed a resolution declaring that everyone in the bloc had a right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. UNEP supported the drafting of the declaration, which is expected to guide national policy reforms and bolster environmental governance in a region home to more than 670 million people.