Helping a billion people breathe cleaner air
The problem: Around nine out of 10 people breathe unhealthy air worldwide, and air pollution cuts short more than eight million lives every year. Burning oil, gas or coal for power sends harmful gases and tiny particles into the air that damage our hearts, lungs and brains. People living closest to polluters are more likely to get sick, and a warming climate makes air quality worse.
What we’re doing about it: We aim to help one billion more people breathe cleaner air by 2030. Working first to clean up the air in the hardest-hit neighborhoods, we equip governments in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia with the data and insights they need to strengthen communities, bring down pollution and hold polluters accountable.
Our work reducing air and climate pollution
- Explainer
How are air pollution and climate change connected?
- Interactive tool
Air Tracker: Mapping local air pollution
- Article
Residents of “Cancer Alley” sue to defend their rights to monitor air quality
- Project
Our pioneering work to map and measure local air pollution
- Blog post
How weather events, made worse by climate change, push air pollution higher
- Article
Replacing polluting diesel trucks offers a shortcut to healthier air
Updates
Read the latest articles, blogs and press releases on clean air.
-
Delaying “Tier 4” pollution standards would cost hundreds of lives, billions of dollars
Press release, -
California Cap-and-Invest updates deeply misguided, undermine the program’s potential to curb pollution and invest in communities
Press release, -
Changes to New Source Review Program Would Mean Higher Costs, Health Risks
Press release, -
New EDF report: Nearly 4 million Illinois residents live within half a mile of a warehouse
Blog post, -
California’s latest Cap-and-Invest auction shows what’s at stake with upcoming CARB vote
Blog post, -
EPA’s many rollbacks of pollution protections ignore the value of lives saved
Blog post,
Clean air resources
Dig deeper into our work with these resources for researchers, policymakers, journalists and communities.
- Report
Breathing life into Amazonian cities: A case for clean air investments
- Interactive tool
Map: Facilities that could get a pollution pass from the Trump administration
- Interactive tool
Chemical Exposure Action Map
- Video
Most of us breathe unhealthy air. What can we do about it?
- Explainer
How does air pollution affect our health?
- Explainer
How methane harms our health and what we can do about it
Our clean air experts
We bring wide-ranging perspectives and skills to our clean air work. Meet some of the people who make it happen.
Media contact
Cecile Brown
(202) 271-6534 (office)
Your gift can help reduce dangerous pollution around the globe
Give now to defend our planet:
Triple your impact to reduce pollution and safeguard our health
Give now to defend our planet: