Air Pollution, Climate and Health
The climate crisis is a health crisis. Air pollution contributes to 7 million premature deaths annually, and heat-related deaths average 489,000 each year. Vital Strategies partners with governments to strengthen the data, policies and public communication needed to protect people’s health from both threats.
Vital Strategies is advancing preventive and protective strategies in 14 cities to address issues caused by rising temperatures and heat emergencies.
Some 17 million residents in Dhaka, Kathmandu and Jakarta have gained access to real-time air-quality data through sensor networks as of 2024.
More than 2,600 vehicles were tested for emissions standards in Jakarta in one day.
Some 250,000 healthcare workers were trained about the health effects of air pollution on children, pregnant women and other at-risk groups.
Why It Matters
Unhealthy environments are responsible for 13 million deaths every year. The majority of the world lives in cities, where air quality is worst and heat waves are most severe. Pollution and extreme heat put children, older adults and low-income communities at the greatest risk. Vital Strategies partners with governments to close the data and policy gaps that leave communities exposed.
How We Work
Vital Strategies partners with governments, providing data and technical expertise that inform strategies to mitigate the effects of air pollution and heat on health.
Vital Strategies works with governments and civil society organizations to advance evidence-based solutions that improve air quality, mitigate heat-related crises and protect public health.
Air pollution is responsible for millions of deaths each year, striking hardest in cities across Asia, Africa and Latin America. Our work strengthens air quality surveillance so countries can generate timely, accurate data on pollution sources, health impacts and community exposure. To date, we’ve supported the installation of hundreds of high-quality, low-cost air monitoring devices around the world.
Clean air policies that prioritize health are also critical to progress on both health and climate. We support governments in developing policies that strengthen public health systems, enable low emission zones, encourage cleaner fuels and set stronger emissions standards.
Communication and community engagement are core to this work: Through campaigns and community-driven initiatives, we build public understanding of air pollution’s health impacts and support for clean air action. For example, in Jakarta, Indonesia, through the Breathe Cities initiative, young citizen scientists are measuring the air quality they breathe every day—turning an invisible threat into a number a family can see and a case for action a city council can’t ignore.
Vital Strategies also supports governments in addressing the health effects of heat. Through the Partnership for Healthy Cities, heat action plans are underway in Bangkok, Seoul, Phnom Penh and Quezon City, building on the same locally led model that has helped cities pass smoke-free zones and safer streets.
In Fortaleza, Brazil, a Vital-supported Climate Risk Observatory combines weather and administrative data from 10 weather stations to predict and issue early warning alerts on heat waves, urban floods and droughts — turning a citywide climate threat into a warning a resident can act on before it becomes an emergency.
Areas of Focus
We focus on evidence-based policy and accountability measures that reduce emissions, protect public health, advance clean air policies for health and deliver the greatest impact at the population level.
Breathe Cities
Since 2023, Vital Strategies has worked with the Breathe Cities initiative in Jakarta to help improve air quality data, drive forward clean air policies, and work to protect the health of all who live and work in the city.
