The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN's leading development agency, working in 170 countries to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality, addressing air pollution as a core development challenge deeply intertwined with health, social equity, and economic resilience. UNDP supports countries and cities to integrate cross-sectoral solutions into development planning, budgeting, and financing.

UNDP's major focus on clean energy transition, anchored under its Sustainable Energy Hub, supports countries in shifting away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy for power generation and industrial processes. In the urban sector, UNDP promotes sustainable transport systems, improved waste management to curb open burning, and nature-based solutions to improve air quality in cities. At the household level, UNDP projects replace polluting cookstoves and heating methods with cleaner alternatives, directly reducing indoor air pollution which disproportionately affects women and children.

A cornerstone of UNDP's regional air quality programming is the Clean Air for Blue Skies in Asia (CABSA) initiative, supported by the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment of the Republic of Korea. CABSA addresses the transboundary nature of air pollution by strengthening scientific monitoring and policy modeling across Asia-Pacific. Following a successful Phase I in Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Thailand, the current phase has expanded to Indonesia, Mongolia, and Vietnam. In collaboration with Incheon National University, the project integrates satellite data, ground-level monitoring, and emission inventories to pioneer the prototype Asian Air Quality Management Program (AAQMaP). Moving forward, CABSA is focused on translating technical models into concrete abatement projects, developing bankable investment opportunities, and promoting gender-sensitive approaches to clean air.

Drawing on its Systems and Portfolio Approach, applied across 100+ countries, UNDP works with governments to design portfolios of connected interventions across planning, finance, transport, industry, health, and agriculture, moving beyond siloed action. This approach is now being piloted across Asia-Pacific. On digital and AI, UNDP is a key implementing partner for Korea's Global AI Hub, an initiative across six UN agencies being applied to environmental challenges across the region. Combined with UNDP's work on digital public infrastructure and AI for policies in Asia-Pacific, this positions UNDP to help governments move from reactive monitoring to predictive, data-informed decision-making.

Globally, UNDP's country office network embeds air pollution action across sectors, from health and energy to transport and finance, advancing the SDGs equitably.