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A systematic review of the evidence has demonstrated the key role of clean household energy in improving global health, reaffirming the importance of United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7, to achieve worldwide access to affordable, modern and clean energy by 2030.
WHO Air Quality Guidelines set goals to protect millions of lives from air pollution

Household air pollution - WHO

World Health Organisation (WHO) World Health Organization (WHO) (2023) C_WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) highlights the significant health risks associated with household air pollution, primarily resulting from the use of inefficient and polluting fuels and technologies for cooking, heating, and lighting. In 2020, approximately 2.1 billion people—about one-third of... more
Air pollution is the top environmental threat to health in Europe. It leads to hundreds of thousands premature deaths per year and billions of Euros in health costs.
This document summarizes several air quality measurement and modelling methods that can be used to estimate ground-level air pollutant concentrations and presents multiple approaches to monitoring ambient air pollution at different spatial and temporal scales. These methods are crucial for estimatin... more
Infographic
This report describes the “Building health workers capacity on air pollution and health” pilot workshop held in Ghana in 2022 which aimed at testing the training material of the first WHO Air Pollution and Health Training toolkit (APHT) targeting health professionals. APHT aims at strengthening ... more
Air pollution is one of the leading causes of health complications and mortality worldwide, especially affecting lower-income groups, who tend to be more exposed and vulnerable. This study documents the relationship between ambient air pollution exposure and poverty in 211 countries and territories.... more
In 2019, WHO estimated that 6.7 million premature deaths could be attributed to ambient and household air pollution from particulate matter (particles with a diameter less than 2.5 μm, PM2.5. Of the 4.2 million deaths attributed specifically to ambient air pollution exposures.
According to the 2016 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey, 66% of Nepali households use mainly solid fuel for cooking on inefficient stoves. Incomplete fuel combustion of solid fuels emits greenhouse gases and harmful smoke, contributing to climate change, forest degradation, ill health and preventa... more
Almost the entire Rwandan population (98.5%) relies on polluting fuels, particularly firewood and charcoal, for cooking. Access to clean energy such as electricity is still limited. In 2022, 70% of the population lived in towns and villages that have electricity – 49% from the national grid and 21... more
Accessed on 06.03.2022 This interactive tool provides a snapshot – in the form of a map –  of current national air quality standards for classical pollutants (particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide) for various averaging times. The WHO Air Quality G... more
UNCTAD sets out actions to support least developed countries in the global low-carbon transition New report says COP27 is an opportunity to accelerate action to achieve mutually beneficial climate and development goals in the world's most vulnerable countries.

Air quality index Bangladesh Fact Sheet 2022

Greenstone, M.; C. Hasenkopf and K. Lee University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute (2022) C1
Bangladesh is the world’s most polluted country. Air pollution shortens the average Bangladeshi’s life expectancy by 6.9 years, relative to what it would be if the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline of 5 μg/m³ was met. Some areas of Bangladesh fare much worse than average, with air poll... more
This report provides an overview of air pollution levels and associated health impacts in cities around the world. Since urban areas are often hotspots for poor air quality, city-level data can help to inform targeted efforts to curb urban air pollution and improve public health. This report draws o... more
Why does WHO consider air pollution a public health emergency? If you live in highly polluted areas does COVID-19 affect you differently? WHO’s Dr Maria Neira explains in Science in 5.

Air quality index Southeast Asia Fact Sheet 2022

Greenstone, M.; C. Hasenkopf and K. Lee University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute (2022) C1
Virtually all (99.9 percent) of Southeast Asia’s 656.1 million people live in areas where particulate pollution exceeds the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline of 5 μg/m³. Despite the lockdowns of the pandemic, pollution continued to rise in much of Southeast Asia in 2020. This pollution c... more

Air quality index Pakistan Fact Sheet 2022

Greenstone, M.; C. Hasenkopf and K. Lee University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute (2022) C1
Pakistan is the world’s fourth most polluted country. Air pollution shortens the average Pakistani’s life expectancy by 3.8 years, relative to what it would be if the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline of 5 μg/m3 was met.1 Some areas of Pakistan fare much worse than average, with air pol... more
The EEA gathers air pollution data from a wide range of sources. This page provides links to available data and information on Europe's air pollution.
In Central and West Africa, regions together comprising 27 countries and 605 million people, the average person is exposed to particulate pollution levels that are more than 4 times the World Health Organization’s (WHO) guideline of 5 μg/m³1. If these particulate pollution levels persist, averag... more