Publications·March 25, 2025
“Accelerating Access to Clean Air for a Livable Planet” is the World Bank’s 2025 flagship assessment of the global outdoor-air-pollution crisis and the policy, investment and governance changes needed to halve population exposure to dangerous fine-particle (PM₂.₅) levels by 2040.
1 Why clean air matters
Scale of the health burden. Ambient PM₂.₅ caused an estimated 5.7 million premature deaths in 2020, more than 90 % of all air-pollution deaths, and cost the world 4.5–6.1 trillion USD a year (≈5 % of global GDP)
.
Unequal impacts. Ninety-nine percent of people breathe air dirtier than WHO guidelines; 80 % of the highly-exposed live in low- and middle-income countries, amplifying poverty, health-care gaps and lost productivity
. South Asia alone loses 8.9 % of GDP to pollution-related damages
.
Main sources. Globally, most PM₂.₅ is anthropogenic. Residential cooking/heating, industry and transport dominate in Asia; solid-fuel cooking dominates in Africa; desert dust compounds exposure in North Africa and the Middle East
.
2 Business-as-usual versus an integrated pathway
Stated Policies scenario (business-as-usual). Existing and announced measures would trim primary PM₂.₅ by just 6 % by 2040. Population growth means 21 % more people would still be exposed above 25 µg m⁻³ and mortality would rise to 6.2 million deaths.
Clean-Air Targets. The report defines a universal goal of cutting, by 2040, the number of people breathing > 25 µg m⁻³ (WHO Interim Target 2) by 50 %; in dusty regions the target is to halve exposure to anthropogenic PM₂.₅ above 5 µg m⁻³
.
Integrated Policies scenario. Combining conventional air-quality controls with energy- and climate-policy levers (eg. deeper decarbonisation, efficiency, renewables) halves global exposure above 25 µg m⁻³ and cuts exposure above 35 µg m⁻³ by 60 %, lowering deaths to 4.1 million (-35 %) in 2040
. It also yields a 40 % net reduction in 100-year global-warming potential versus business-as-usual
.
3 What drives the required reductions?
Sector priorities are region-specific. On average, 55 % of the necessary exposure drop comes from the residential sector—phasing out solid fuels for cooking and space-heating—while industry, transport, agriculture and waste share the remainder.
Cross-cutting quick wins include end-of-pipe industrial controls, bans on crop-residue burning, Euro-VI/BS-VI vehicle standards, methane-capture from waste and manure, and nature-based dust-mitigation in arid zones.
Regional illustration – Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP). A cooperative “35-by-35” goal (average PM₂.₅ ≤ 35 µg m⁻³ by 2035) across 12 jurisdictions in the IGP/Himalayan foothills could save ≈462 000 lives/year and is a stepping-stone toward the 2040 global targets
.
4 Institutions and governance
The analysis identifies 18 governance building-blocks grouped under legal frameworks, executive commitment, nested planning, vertical/horizontal coordination, and accountability/transparency (e.g. public data disclosure)
. Successful programmes—from China’s Air-Pollution Prevention Plan to Mexico City’s ProAIRE—feature:
High-level political champions and a clean-air vision embedded in economic policy.
Airshed-scale coordination so that municipal, provincial and national actors tackle trans-boundary pollution.
Robust monitoring, emissions inventories and decision-support tools to target cost-effective actions and track progress.
5 Finance: affordable but under-funded
Price tag. Achieving the targets through the integrated pathway requires ≈3.2 trillion USD cumulative to 2040, raising annual AQM investment from 8.5 bn USD in 2020 to 13.9 bn USD—falling from 0.95 % to just 0.49 % of projected global GDP.
Unlocking capital. Domestic budgets remain crucial for monitoring, enforcement and incentive frameworks, but private investment must grow. The report highlights green bonds, results-based finance, concessional blended instruments, priority-sector lending (PSL) in India, revolving funds (Kyrgyz Republic), guarantees and carbon credits as vehicles to crowd in capital.
Subsidy reform. Redirecting the half-trillion dollars in explicit fossil-fuel subsidies could fund clean-energy and AQM solutions, alongside social protection for vulnerable groups
.
6 Three headline recommendations
Priority Concrete actions highlighted in the report
Strengthen institutions Enact clear air-quality laws; assign a lead agency reporting to heads of government; empower sub-national bodies; anchor strategies in realistic multi-year budgets.
Leverage information Fill monitoring gaps with reference monitors, satellites and low-cost sensors; publish real-time data; integrate emissions, health and economic analytics to steer policy.
Catalyse investment Align fiscal/pricing signals (pollution taxes, subsidy swaps) with clean-air goals; use public procurement and standards to create markets; deploy blended finance and risk-sharing to mobilise private capital.
7 Key words
PM2.5; integrated policies; Clean Air Targets; residential solid fuels; airshed governance; decarbonisation co-benefits; private-sector financing; fossil-fuel subsidy reform; monitoring networks; Indo-Gangetic “35-by-35”.
Air pollution has major health impacts on people living in Ulaanbaatar. The excessively high particulate matter concentrations, especially in the winter and in the ger areas, increase the incidence of heart and lung diseases, and lead to premature deaths. Improving air quality management in Ulaanbaatar and reducing pollution concentrations would prevent illnesses, save lives and avoid enormous health costs. The implementation of the Air Monitoring and Health Impact Baseline (AMHIB) study has brought together Mongolian and international air quality experts as well as public health experts and economists who have taken an synergetic approach of linking public health, air quality and economic issues. This report builds upon the discussion paper air pollution in Ulaanbaatar: initial assessment of current situation and effects of abatement measures that was published in December 2009, and reflects the final results and recommendations from the AMHIB project.