Clean Air Fund

Air pollution is an under-recognised problem and it's killing people. We need more awareness, more urgency, and more action. I launched the Clean Air Fund two years ago because nobody else was tackling the problem in a systematic, evidence-based way.

I would use the funding to strengthen parts of our work that aren’t currently funded. One of the priority areas for us is to launch projects in urban US centres to find solutions to the disproportionate impact of air pollution on people of colour and the economically vulnerable. The funding would allow us to deeply explore projects focussed on and led by communities of colour to ensure environmental justice is at the heart of our approach to clean air solutions, working to amplify and resource grassroots communities who experience the issue first-hand.

The additional coaching support would allow me to hone my skills in strategic planning and risk management, supporting Clean Air Fund to hone its strategic approach to such a global issue and able to manage the risks that come with our innovative and novel ways of working.

The first time I thought hard about air pollution was when I moved to London and saw the filter in my mask turn black after a week of cycling to work. I had always cared about the climate. I began to see that where the issue of climate change felt remote, global and impersonal, the issue of air pollution was immediate, local and tangibly affecting people’s health and livelihoods right now, as well as damaging the environment.

I could see that momentum was building worldwide for tackling air pollution through the increase in public demand, research and funding, but it wasn’t yet enough. I founded the Clean Air Fund in 2019 with a vision to supercharge the movement for clean air across the globe, delivering co-benefits for health, climate, the economy and social justice.

Some of our early work has proved the exciting potential of low-cost air quality monitoring systems in cities, the value of coordinating clear campaign asks of governments and the crucial role that business and healthcare have to play in clean air action. My hope for the future is that we are able to share our learnings of ‘what works’ to benefit cities and communities worldwide.

Air pollution is a global issue that affects both our health and our planet. It is one of the biggest public health issues we face. Across the world 9 out of 10 people live in places where the air they breathe is damaging their health. It is also closely linked with climate change, with 85% of airborne particulate pollution coming directly from the burning of fossil fuels for energy.

Every year, outdoor air pollution causes over 4.2 million deaths, more than the number of deaths from tuberculosis, HIV/Aids and malaria combined. It has a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable in our society: babies, children, elder citizens and marginalized communities.

The Clean Air Fund supports organisations who work directly on clean air, from air quality monitoring networks and policy analysis to large-scale communications campaigns and movement building. We also connect stakeholders working on the issue to scale up the movement’s impact. We currently work in the UK, India, Eastern Europe and China. Our work falls into four key areas: generating and sharing air quality data, building stronger demand for clean air from all walks of life, supporting delivery of policies and building the movement and its funding as a whole.

As the only international philanthropic organisation solely focussed on air pollution, we have a birds-eye view of air quality work globally, allowing us to spot opportunities and fill gaps that other organisations might be unable to spot or address on their own.

We know that the funding we disperse is a drop in the ocean compared to the massive scale of the problem, so we are innovative in our approach.

For example:

• Our Breathe London project undertook the most granular air pollution monitoring ever attempted in the world. It enabled us to measure neighbourhood level pollution and resulted in policy action from city officials to tackle pollution hotspots outside schools.
• Our work in India aimed to get new organisations working on air quality by pairing them with  experts – from streetworkers unions to children’s organisations to female construction workers.
• In Krakow, Poland, we installed a billboard with a pair of lungs made from air quality filter that turned visibly black from the pollution, mimicking the effect of air pollution on the lungs. Through making the invisible visible, several Polish cities responded by introducing more stringent air quality measures.

Through our approach of funding partners working on clean air, amplifying the impact of the movement and complementing the work of others, we are able to tackle issues of health, the environment, and equity. Our success to date indicates our approach is working:

• We have created a first-of-its-kind database to track financial support for air quality initiatives, illuminating the lack of funding going to the issue compared to its scale.
• We have mobilised 37 cities and 19 India business leaders to take ambitious action through the C40 clean air cities declaration, and the creation of the India CEO Forum for Clean Air.
• We have accelerated Polish government action to adopt the largest green boiler replacement scheme, and paved the way for the first discussion of air pollution in a Polish presidential election.
• We have mobilised healthcare professionals in India to produce guidance for patients and support air quality monitoring in hospitals.
• We have funded pathbreaking analysis that builds the economic case for clean air in the UK and India, engaging policy-makers and business in the process. 
• We have improved the efficacy of enforcement officers in China to become 10 times more effective at detecting pollution hotspots.