The State of Global Air Quality Funding 2022

The report finds that air quality is severely underfunded, accounting for only 0.5% of international development funding and less than 0.1% of philanthropic spending between 2015 and 2020. While 72% of development funding for air quality also addresses climate change, only 2.2% of international public climate finance explicitly targets air pollution. The analysis highlights a critical misalignment in priorities, noting that international development funders committed $46.6 billion to projects prolonging fossil fuel use between 2015-2021, more than four times the amount spent on air quality. Geographically, funding is concentrated in Asia, the US, China, and India, leaving Africa and Latin America underserved; in Africa, funding for fossil fuel-prolonging projects was 36 times higher than for clean air measures from 2015-2021.

• Air quality funding represents a very small fraction of total available resources from both public and private sources. Between 2015 and 2020, air pollution projects received just 0.5% of total international development funding and less than 0.1% of philanthropic foundation funding.
• There is a significant disconnect between climate finance and air quality goals. Only approximately 2% of international public climate finance explicitly addresses air pollution, despite the fact that 72% ($7.6 billion) of air quality funding from international development funders simultaneously addressed climate change between 2015-2021.
• International development funding continues to prioritize the extension of fossil fuel use over air quality improvements. Between 2015-2021, $46.6 billion was committed to projects that prolonged fossil fuel use, which is more than four times the amount dedicated to air quality projects.
• Funding for air quality is geographically imbalanced, with Africa and Latin America lagging behind. In Africa specifically, between 2015-2021, commitments to fossil fuel-prolonging projects were 36 times higher than those for clean air measures.
• Philanthropic funding for air quality reached a record high of $63.8 million in 2021, a 36% increase from the previous year, driven partly by a small number of large grants. However, this still represents less than 0.1% of total philanthropic spending.
• The structure of international development funding for air quality is heavily reliant on loans, with grant funding representing only 6% of total commitments, which may increase the debt burden for low-income countries.

APA

Climate Policy Initiative (2022). The State of Global Air Quality Funding 2022. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/the-state-of-global-air-quality-funding-2022/

Chicago

Climate Policy Initiative. The State of Global Air Quality Funding 2022. 2022. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/the-state-of-global-air-quality-funding-2022/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Policy Initiative |title=The State of Global Air Quality Funding 2022 |date=7 September 2022 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/the-state-of-global-air-quality-funding-2022/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatepolicyinitiative2022state, author = {{Climate Policy Initiative}}, title = {{The State of Global Air Quality Funding 2022}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2022}, month = sep, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/the-state-of-global-air-quality-funding-2022/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }