India and Nepal receive less than 1% of global air quality funding, report reveals stark disparities

A recent report titled "State of Global Air Quality Funding 2023," published by the UK-based Clear Air Fund in collaboration with the Climate Policy Initiative, reveals disparities in funding allocation for addressing air pollution between 2015 and 2021, reported ANI.
According to the report, both India and Nepal received less than 1 percent of the total USD 17.3 billion provided by international development funders to combat air pollution during this period. In stark contrast, a significant 86 percent of this funding was channeled to just five countries: China, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Mongolia, and Pakistan.
The report scrutinizes financial support from various international development sources, including multilateral development banks, bilateral development agencies, and governments, which extended assistance to low- and middle-income countries through loans, grants, and other means to enhance air quality.
Furthermore, the report emphasizes that only 1 percent of international development funding (equating to $17.3 billion) and a mere 2 percent of international public climate finance were dedicated to addressing air pollution. Specifically, the report highlights that 86 percent of the outdoor air quality funding provided by international development funders, totaling USD 12 billion, was concentrated in China (37 percent), the Philippines (20 percent), Bangladesh (17 percent), Mongolia (6 percent), and Pakistan (6 percent).

The report underscores the disparity between funding allocation and the actual burden of air pollution, particularly in India and Nepal, which are among the countries with the highest population-weighted annual average PM2.5 exposure. This stark contrast highlights the need for more equitable distribution of resources to combat air pollution.
The report attributes the geographical concentration of outdoor air quality funding in Asia to the substantial investments made by institutions such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in their own regions. Collectively, these institutions accounted for 81 percent of total outdoor air quality funding