Made in Humane Club
Catalysing global clean air action
Our Common Air is an independent Commission that brings together powerful voices to catalyse and accelerate global collective action on air pollution.
The Core Group
Our Co-Chairs
Board Chair
Partnership for Maternal Newborn and Child Health
Former Prime Minister of New Zealand and UNDP Administrator
Chairperson
M S Swaminathan Research Foundation
Former Chief Scientist
World Health Organization
Our Commissioners
Director
Director, Clean Air Program
Energy Policy Institute, University of Chicago (EPIC)
Senior Fellow
The Fletcher School
Co-Chair
International Resource Panel
CEO and Founder
Clean Air Fund
Vice President (Operations)
MIGA, World Bank Group
Founding Director*
Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE)
Executive Director
GWL Voices for Change and Inclusion
Director
Public Health, Environment and Social Determinants of Health Department, World Health Organization
Head of Secretariat
Climate and Clean Air Coalition
Special Presidential Envoy for Global Commons
University of Tokyo
President
Resilient Health Systems, LLC
Climate and Health Policy Fellow*
Imperial College London
Senior Fellow
Jackson School of Global Affairs, Yale University
Professor
Bandung Institute of Technology
Former Deputy Mayor
Environment and Energy, Greater London Authority
Mayor
Freetown, Sierra Leone
(All commissioners are part of Our Common Air in their personal capacities.)
(*With effect from July 2024.)
Clean Air: A Call to Action
This Call to Action makes the economic case for clean air, financing the investments needed, setting targets and tracking progress, and sharing solutions.
We hope this report can trigger commitment to deliver clean air for all.
Our Recommendations
Value clean air as an asset.
Governments, businesses, investors, multilateral development banks, and others must recognise and track the economic value that clean air creates, treating it as an ‘asset’ that benefits us all.
Finance the transition.
Public development banks and the wider development finance community should unlock the funding needed to clean the air.
Set WHO-aligned clean air targets and collaboratively track progress towards a common goal.
All governments and non-state actors should set targets to limit PM2.5 levels to WHO guidelines by 2030 — or, recognise each has different starting points and circumstances, an ambitious target based on the WHO interim guidelines — and annually report on progress.
Work together to achieve solutions that benefit all.
Philanthropy, development finance, and existing sectoral entities should build a global solutions network that combines existing efforts to cut emissions and accelerate technological transformation.
Commit to urgent action on short-lived climate pollutants.
Governments should integrate air pollution outcomes into the review of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), rapidly address short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) and set ambitious SLCP emissions reduction targets.
Latest from Our Common Air
Clean Air is a Valuable Economic Asset. Here are 4 Steps to Achieve It
In this column published in the World Economic Forum, Arunabha Ghosh and Jane Burston highlight how to accelerate collective action for clean air.
16 January 2024
Clean Air Can Become a Reality for the Global South
5 February 2024
Air Pollution Is a Silent Killer. Here’s How Cities Are Tackling It
18 March 2024
Commissioners Speak
We need a global means of assessing whether national governments are doing enough to protect their citizens from the dangers of air pollution.
Helen Clark
The vision of clean air can become a reality because we possess the knowledge, technology, and resources to make a change. We only need political will.
Soumya Swaminathan
We need a global means of assessing whether national governments are doing enough to protect their citizens from the dangers of air pollution.
Maria Neira
We need collective action to forge cross-sectoral agreements and create partnerships that go beyond the local level.
Olusoji Adeyi
Investing in clean air is investing in climate action — it reduces emissions and improves economic outcomes, for both businesses and people.
Jane Burston
Air pollution has no boundary. That’s why our efforts must be global and focus on creating a bridge between countries to accelerate action on clean air.
Puji Lestari
We need better ways of connecting governments to the international community so they build the capacity they need to address air pollution.
Christa Hasenkopf
Clean Air as an Asset: A Call to Action from Our Core Group
Our co-chairs and commissioners write about Our Common Air’s mission and vision to recognise clean air as a global societal asset.
