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As many large cities around the world emerge from lockdown, city authorities need to act decisively to prevent air pollution rebounding and even exceeding pre-COVID-19 levels, said participants on a webinar discussing efforts to control air pollution. The improvements in air quality seen during the COVID-19 lockdown have shown individuals and policymakers what is possible regarding air pollution and could open the door to reinvigorated efforts to address pollution.

“Around the world, we’ve been astounded in some places by the dramatic improvement in air quality that have resulted from the response to COVID-19,” said Sarah Vogel, Vice President for Health at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). “While it’s come from an artificial and temporary brake on the global economy, it’s drawn renewed attention to the devasting impacts of outdoor air pollution.”

Vogel was moderating a webinar, held on 26 June by the OECD, WWF and the EDF, in collaboration with the World Bank, entitled “Clear Skies to Clean Air”. The event formed part of the Friday Series for a Green and Healthy Recovery.  

Speaking at the webinar, Karin Kemper, Global Director, Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy Global Practice at the World Bank, catalogued some of those impacts: 7 million deaths from air pollution each year; a cost to the global economy of around $5.7 trillion in 2016 alone; a disproportionate effect on the poor; and the exacerbation of susceptibility to COVID-19.

“Fortunately, the evidence shows that there are many actions and measures we can take to improve air quality,” said Rodolfo Lacy, Director for the Environment Directorate at the OECD. The pandemic, he said, “has demonstrated the potential for targeted mitigation efforts to generate rapid and significant improvements, and the accompanying economic benefits in terms of improved health are quite relevant.”

He added that the OECD has a number of policy recommendations in this area: that existing air pollution regulations are enforced; that any COVID-19 responses do not worsen air quality issues; that road space is reallocated to pedestrians and cyclists; low-emission zones in cities should be expanded; and air quality monitoring networks should be extended and upgraded.

“One of the things about air pollution is that is really lends itself to policy interventions,” Kemper added. In addition to the OECD recommendations, she recommended policies that aim to reduce emissions of black carbon – which has the added benefit of helping to mitigate climate change – and the removal of subsidies on fossil fuels, which currently amount to $4.7 trillion each year, or 6.5% of global GDP.

“This may be the moment, when fossil fuels are naturally cheap, to repurpose subsidies and use them for other things, such as in the health sector, or education,” she said.

“Finally, carbon pricing and pollution charges are really important,” she added, noting that the World Bank has been working with Mexico and Colombia to design carbon pricing systems.

The webinar also heard from policymakers on the front lines of addressing air pollution: Claudia López, Mayor of Bogota, Colombia; and Shirley Rodrigues, Deputy Mayor of London, with responsibility for environment and energy.

López explained how Bogota has responded to the pandemic by accelerating existing efforts to encourage low-carbon and cleaner forms of urban transport, such as adding an additional 80 km of cycle lanes to the existing 560 km network and making greater provision for pedestrians.

“This is not going to be temporary – we’re going to take advantage of the pandemic to speak more to this agenda for clean and green transportation,” she said.

She also noted the importance of working cooperatively with adjacent local authorities: “We won’t be able to achieve our goals if surrounding municipalities don’t share our vision and our goals, because air doesn’t recognise administrative boundaries.” Similarly, clean transit systems need to be built at the regional level if they are to be effective, she added.

Cities also need devolved powers if they are to address local air pollution, argued Rodrigues: “We can’t have a centralised approach … Citizens deal with their local authorities, majors know what is needed in their cities. Devolving powers, alongside funding, is absolutely critical so we can push the electrification agenda and the reclamation of roads, so we can avoid a car-based recovery.”

As well as discussing ongoing efforts that London has been making to encourage cycling and walking, Rodrigues also described how the city has been working with EDF to develop “hyper-local” monitoring to better understand how pollution is disproportionately affecting low-income communities. “Unless you have the data to really understand where the hotspots of pollution and hotspots of inequality [overlap], you can’t target your resources and your efforts.”