The Economic Case for Action on Climate and Clean Air

Integrated action on air pollution and climate change represents one of the most immediate opportunities to protect human health while advancing climate goals. Super pollutants – such as mehane, black carbon, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), tropospheric ozone, and nitrous oxide—are responsible for half of today's warming and can have environmental and human health effects.

The current complex geopolitical landscape is increasingly shaped by tensions between energy security, economic competitiveness, and environmental ambition. Navigating the way forward requires a clear understanding of existing constraints and trade-offs, as well as a critical examination of how benefits and impacts are framed across different contexts and stakeholders. Strengthening this alignment will be essential to sustaining ambition and maintaining momentum in climate and clean air action.

Past experience, such as through the Stern Review and recent World Bank reports, has demonstrated the strong economic rationale for acting on climate change and air pollution. Evidence increasingly shows that action on super pollutants can deliver major economic returns while supporting sustainable development objectives. Clearly articulating these benefits can help encourage policymakers, financial institutions, and investors to prioritize and accelerate the implementation of effective policies and solutions.

Building momentum ahead of the launch of the UNEP-CCAC Global Economic Assessment of Climate and Clean Air, this event co-hosted with the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) will bring together government representatives, development partners, philanthropic leaders, academic experts, and financing communities. It will begin by examining the challenges and pathways forward for maintaining ambition and momentum under the current geopolitical landscape, and highlight the economic benefits of taking rapid and integrated action on climate and clean air, and then will explore the explore the mechanisms, technologies, and broader pathways (including behavourial change) needed to scale out the solutions identified in the Economic Assessment with real-world examples demonstrating how investments are being de-risked.  

The session will aim at:

• Highlight the economic benefits of rapid integrated action on climate and clean air
• Build momentum ahead of the UNEP-CCAC Global Economic Assessment launch
• Explore the way forward under the current geopolitical challenges
• Communicate the key messages and identify financial mechanisms/good examples for stakeholders to scale high-impact solutions
• Highlight the need to strengthen enabling environments for investment and implementation
• Illustrate the technology and investment options ready now and demonstrate what their impact could be with greater investment and scale 

* If you cannot join the event in-person, you can register here to join the discussions online.