Clean Air Asia 2019 Annual Report

Clean Air Asia’s 2019 Annual Report captures the organization’s pre-pandemic year of project delivery, regional convening, and institution-building. It outlines CAA’s mission, governance, programs, country networks, flagship initiatives, and an audited financial snapshot—establishing both impact and transparency.

Who CAA is, and how it works

CAA is an international NGO leading a regional mission for better air quality and healthier, more livable Asian cities. It works to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions by building capacity, advocating evidence-based policy, and informing stakeholders across air quality, transport, industrial emissions, and energy. The aim: reach 1,000+ cities through actionable guidance and partnerships that link air, climate, and health with the SDGs and Paris Agreement. CAA operates from Manila HQ with offices in Beijing and New Delhi, and coordinates six Country Networks (Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Viet Nam).

CAA’s values emphasize multi-stakeholder collaboration, partnership, independence, and excellence, implemented through two program pillars: Air Quality & Climate Change (including stationary sources) and Sustainable Transport. Its biennial Better Air Quality (BAQ) conference remains Asia’s largest AQM gathering, anchoring regional knowledge exchange.

Executive lens: urgency and co-benefits

The Executive Director’s statement—written in early 2020—reads 2019 in the shadow of the emerging COVID-19 crisis. It points to temporary “blue skies” during lockdowns as proof that structural change can deliver cleaner air, and calls for accelerating solutions at scale that simultaneously cut pollution and CO₂, aiming to halve global carbon emissions and reduce air-pollution deaths by two-thirds by 2030.

2019 results by function
Improving policy (national, city, and sector)

Coal-fired power (CFP), Southeast & South Asia.
CAA supported Philippines DENR-EMB on stationary-source standards (especially CFP), providing cost/technology analyses and scenario workshops; it developed an enforcement assessment for Viet Nam with recommendations on policy, capacity, and technology; launched a Bangladesh CFP scoping study; and began a regional policy analysis benchmarking national CFP standards against international best practice to spur tightening.

Philippines—mainstreaming city CAAPs.
CAA signed an MOU with the League of Cities of the Philippines (145 members) to integrate Clean Air Action Plans (CAAPs) into local development plans and to strengthen AQM capacity and awareness. It also convened an inter-agency workshop to update the National Air Quality Control Plan, identifying reforms across agencies.

Indonesia—Bogor’s CAAP adopted.
Bogor’s Clean Air Action Plan—targeting transport and industrial sources—was formally endorsed in May 2019; CAA then helped the city explore financing mechanisms for implementation.

Vehicle/fuel policies—ASEAN examples.
In Myanmar, CAA co-organized back-to-back workshops on Euro IV/4 adoption and fuel-economy policy; Malaysia progressed fuel-economy baselines (with MARii) toward a low-carbon mobility blueprint; Cambodia initiated standards for electric 2-/3-wheelers; and Indonesia institutionalized eco-driving (Jakarta making training mandatory for commercial drivers).

Philippines—urban e-mobility pilot.
With UNEP and the City of Pasig, CAA launched the Electric 2- & 3-Wheelers Pilot for postal deliveries (PHLPost), demonstrating zero-emission urban freight with major gains in carrier productivity.

China—evidence, rankings, and scattered coal.
“China Air 2019” analyzed air-quality status/policies in 338 cities and created the inaugural China Blue Sky City Rankings (combining effect and effort scores) to incentivize improvement and public accountability. The Northern China Scattered Coal Study filled a critical data gap on rural heating transitions (3,000 surveys, 574 household interviews, 397 emissions tests), informing clean-heating policy. A co-control guideline (with Tsinghua) offered differentiated air-climate pathways by city type.

India—NCAP operationalization and policy uptake.
CAA co-developed City Air Action Plans (e.g., Agra; Dehradun; Rishikesh; Kashipur), supported BreatheLife city enrollments, contributed to the National Urban Policy Framework and secured inclusion of air-quality indicators in the Climate Smart Cities Framework (100 smart cities).

Building capacity (people, systems, institutions)

Emissions inventories (EI) and CAAP skills.
CAA trained Metro Manila city staff on EI methods and built a city-level EI for Santa Rosa. In Mongolia, it delivered an EI guidelines + tool package to national agencies and trained officials from 17 cities and 21 provinces to underpin sub-national programs under the NPRAEP. In Can Tho (Viet Nam) it trained industry practitioners on strategic AQM aligned with the city’s CAAP, and in Phnom Penh (Cambodia) it ran a 4-day workshop on transport EI and M&E frameworks leading to an EI roadmap.

ADB TA—seven cities.
Under ADB’s “Strengthening Knowledge and Actions for Air Quality Improvement”, CAA helped Erdenet (MNG), La Trinidad (PHL), Faridpur (BGD), Sialkot & Peshawar (PAK), Ho Chi Minh City & Vinh Yen (VNM) initiate CAAP development via an inception workshop and targeted technical assistance.

China—officials and NGOs.
Four national/regional workshops trained 381 officials/technical staff from 60 cities (topics: traffic emissions & transport structure reform, VOCs control, EI, mid/long-term CAAPs and cost-benefit analysis). The BlueGull Partnership Program trained local NGOs on shipping/port emissions; 11 NGO projects were competitively selected for support, expanding civil society’s role in AQM. NGOs were also supported to pilot compliance monitoring in the iron & steel sector and to codify a practical guideline.

India—national modules and frontline workers.
CAA (with partners) produced a National Module on Advancing Air Quality for Indian cities (aligned with CAA’s Guidance Framework). It trained safai karamcharis and municipal workers on air-health risks (dust, waste burning) and, with WHO, delivered health-assessment tool training for cities in the BreatheLife network.

Informing for action (awareness, data use, coalitions)

Communications & public engagement.
CAA produced a CFP factsheet for policymakers in the Philippines; ran community workshops in Metro Manila (“Hangarin para sa Hangin”) to spur household-level pledges and track lifestyle changes; recruited multiple Philippine and Indonesian cities—and Hanoi—to the BreatheLife network, translating materials into Bahasa, Nepali, Filipino; and created videos to promote Pasig’s e-mobility pilot.

In China, the first green truck campaign benchmarked in-use diesel emissions from 25 manufacturers, generating substantial media coverage and pressure for improvements; monthly AQM Knowledge Hub columns in China Environment News diffused international best practice.

Youth & schools.
CAA assessed outdoor PM₂.₅ at schools in Bhubaneswar, Nagpur, New Delhi, Agra, raised children’s exposure awareness, and launched a “Clean Air for Healthy Children” website with Aurassure. The Youth for Clean Air Network (YCAN) ran surveys and campaigns; for World Environment Day, CAA captured street-level perceptions via 70 videos across six countries (Philippines, India, Viet Nam, Nepal, Indonesia, Mongolia).

Policy thought leadership.
An op-ed contribution to the New York Times emphasized accelerating renewables for air + climate benefits; a DoF-focused study in the Philippines recommended adding a fuel-consumption component to vehicle excise taxes to drive 3% annual fuel-economy gains with energy, emissions, and cost savings.

Governance, membership, and finances

CAA’s Board of Trustees (regional policy, finance, academia, city leadership) provides oversight under Articles/Bylaws/Operations Manual. The membership spans cities, government agencies, NGOs/academia, development partners, and private sector, reflecting CAA’s multi-stakeholder DNA.

2019 finances (audited).
Support & income: US$ 2.828M; Grant expenses: US$ 2.119M; G&A: US$ 625k; Fundraising: US$ 78k; Surplus: US$ 6.1k; Fund balance (Dec 2019): US$ 509.1k. G&A (ex-fundraising) equaled 22% of revenues. SGV & Co (EY) issued an unqualified opinion under Philippine Financial Reporting Standards. Donor list includes ADB, ClimateWorks, UNEP/UNDP/UN-Habitat/WHO, foundations (Oak, RBF, MacArthur, TROPOS), and private sector (UPS Foundation, Toyota Daihatsu, Shell).

Why this year matters

2019 shows CAA’s blend of policy engineering, capacity building, and public mobilization across subregions: making CFP standards more stringent and enforceable; getting city CAAPs adopted and financed; institutionalizing e-mobility and eco-driving; building EI/monitoring capacity from Mongolia to Metro Manila; and leveraging rankings, studies, and campaigns to create accountability. The through-line is air–climate–health co-benefits delivered via practical city and sector measures—a foundation that would prove essential when the pandemic hit months later.

Keywords

Clean Air Asia (CAA); Clean Air Action Plans (CAAPs); coal-fired power standards (PHL/VNM/BGD); China Air 2019 & Blue Sky City Rankings; Northern China scattered coal; co-control guideline (air + GHG); e-mobility (Pasig, PH); eco-driving (Jakarta); Euro IV/4 adoption (Myanmar); fuel-economy policy (Malaysia, Philippines excise reform); EI capacity (Mongolia, Metro Manila, Phnom Penh); ADB 7-city TA; BlueGull (ports/NGOs); green truck campaign; BreatheLife expansion; youth & schools engagement; audited finances (US$ 2.828M revenues; unqualified opinion).