Air pollution is one of the biggest causes of death globally, accounting for an estimated 18% of total global deaths in 2018 – just under 1 in 5. Being cited by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago as “the greatest external threat to human life expectancy on the planet” it has been compared to the danger of smoking, and is more dangerous than alcohol or unsafe water. The drivers behind the global air pollution crisis are also the drivers of climate change, and having this understanding that the climate crisis is a health crisis is key to developing integrated policy approaches. Urgent policy actions at every level are needed to prevent the risks of air pollution to human health, especially within exposed and vulnerable communities. Yet policy actions to date are siloed within each sector and often fail to place human health and health equity in the center.

This report – commissioned by the Clean Air Fund and produced by Forum for the Future in partnership with iovoli pharmaceutical consulting - calls for more integrated environmental and health policy mechanisms that prevent and reduce outdoor air polluting emissions.

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