Our impact

Clean Air Fund is a global philanthropic organisation working with governments, funders, businesses and campaigners to create a future where everyone breathes clean air. We have supported over 600 projects since 2019. Below are highlights of what our work has achieved so far. 

Where we’ve helped move clean air policy forward

Our partners have driven policy change at city, national and regional levels. 

Across the EU, our partners advocated for one of the most progressive air quality regulatory frameworks in the world. The revised European Ambient Air Quality Directive, which aligns EU standards more closely with WHO guidelines, is expected to deliver €121bn in gross annual benefits and save around 150,000 lives every year by halving premature deaths from air pollution. 

In Poland, our partners have contributed to national anti-smog resolutions, stronger Low Emission Zone (LEZ) legislation and the roll-out of the National Clean Air Programme. Krakow and Warsaw became the first cities in central and eastern Europe to implement low emission zones. Air quality in Poland is improving: average particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations fell from 19 µg/m³ in 2019 to 16 µg/m³ in 2022, according to the European Clean Air Centre. 

In the UK, we supported partners to help drive the creation or expansion of eight Clean Air Zones, including the expansion of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). In 2024, London met legal limits for toxic NO₂ pollution for the first time — nearly 200 years earlier than had been predicted before ULEZ. In the first year of the expanded zone, NO₂ pollution in outer London fell by 24% and exhaust PM2.5 was 31% lower. 

The UK government also brought forward its national PM2.5 target by a decade, committing to meet the WHO guideline of 10 µg/m³ by 2030 and aligning UK ambition with the EU. 

In Ghana, our partners helped shape the country’s new Air Quality Management Regulation — the most significant reform of Ghana’s environmental legislation in decades — which requires every district to develop its own Air Quality Management Plan. 

In India, sustained work with national and state governments helped unlock $600m in World Bank financing for clean air action, split between the Uttar Pradesh and Haryana regions. Uttar Pradesh’s $300m programme will deploy 15,000 electric three-wheelers and 500 electric buses, and replace 13,500 heavy-duty vehicles. 

Cities are taking bold action as part of Breathe Cities, our global initiative with Bloomberg Philanthropies and C40 Cities:  

• In Sofia, Bulgaria, the city introduced a LEZ for transport and heating, following civil society’s demands for stronger clean air measures and expert modelling spearheaded by our partners.  
• In Bogotá, Colombia, air pollution has fallen by almost a quarter since 2018, earning the city the Earthshot Prize for its pioneering interventions.  
• Nairobi, Kenya, and Accra, Ghana, rolled out air quality action plans and new sensor networks, allowing policymakers and communities to identify toxic air hotspots and take tailored action.  
• Brussels, Belgium, has confirmed the next phase of the Low Emission Zone for 2026.  
• In Paris, France, localised air quality data supported traffic restrictions on 300 streets and the phaseout of the city’s most polluting vehicles

How we moved air pollution up the global agenda 

Our efforts have elevated air quality as a critical health and climate issue at the international level. G20 ministers adopted the first-ever standalone declaration on air quality among the world’s largest economies — a step-change in how the issue is treated in global policymaking. 

We built momentum around super pollutants, which are dangerous for health and contribute to almost half of global warming. Working alongside partners, we put health at the heart of climate negotiations by collaborating with the UAE COP Presidency to shape the first Health Day at COP28. 

Two years later, nine countries announced plans to cut the super pollutant black carbon at COP30. The first-of-its-kind announcement elevated black carbon as a critical climate and health challenge on the global stage.  

At the 78th World Health Assembly, member states endorsed a new WHO roadmap with a voluntary goal of halving air pollution deaths by 2040. Early roadmap commitments from 24 countries offer a clear path to save millions of lives and reduce burdens on health systems. The UN General Assembly also formally recognised air pollution as a major driver of noncommunicable diseases. 

How we’re building the economic case for clean air

Our engagement with development finance institutions and pioneering research efforts have been central to making the economic case for improving air quality:   

• Our flagship report revealed that just 1% of international development funding and less than 3% of international public climate finance went to clean air initiatives. Analysis from India, the UK, Bulgaria and African cities provided evidence of the economic benefits of clean air action.  
• In 2024, Our Common Air, our independent global commission of experts and leaders, published a global economic case for treating clean air as an asset.  
• In 2025, the World Bank pledged $1 billion through its Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) to de-risk air quality projects and unlock further private investment in clean air. 

How we support the movement for clean air 

We’ve supported over 600 projects since our inception, from community-led organisations to big strategic partners. We’ve spent $154m towards our goal of a future where everyone breathes clean air. In our grantee survey, partners cited our role in generating insight and evidence, and promoting cross-sectoral collaboration. 

We are the largest philanthropically backed funder dedicated to tackling air pollution, having raised $248m of direct funding. In addition to the funding we raised ourselves, we have also leveraged and influenced further funding with partners. Overall, we’ve catalysed over $124m to tackle air pollution across the globe.  

How we mobilised private sector action on clean air

• We rallied a range of multinational companies to take action on air pollution, including IKEA, Haleon, Maersk and Wipro. Several are now measuring and starting to reduce their air pollution emissions, with 10 publicly publishing their emissions inventories for the first time.    
• Our guide for assessing corporate air pollutant emissions helped businesses align their existing greenhouse gas reduction targets with air quality metrics. The guide was incorporated into the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group’s official guidance, becoming the standard for SMEs looking to comply with European sustainability reporting standards. We also supported a first-of-its-kind guide on measuring air pollution across value chains, and a business case toolkit for other companies.  
• In India, our work with the Confederation of Indian Industry built support among over 100 CEOs and produced an interactive site showcasing best practice.  

How data is unlocking action 

We support initiatives to improve how air quality data is used to drive action: 

• Through our partners’ work, 134 air quality sensors from 28 manufacturers have been independently evaluated in low- and middle-income countries, promoting this lower-cost technology for effective monitoring. 
• We supported more than 30 local clean air campaigns and thousands of citizen scientists through our grants. 
• OpenAQ platform has facilitated open access to air quality data from more than 43,000 reference, research and low-cost monitors. That’s double the number of countries with air quality data available to the public than before.