Delhi can cut PM2.5 exposure by 20% by 2040 if clean air initiatives not delayed: Report

Delhi would reduce PM2.5 exposure burden by 20 per cent by 2040 if it achieves current national air quality standards on schedule starting in 2026, a new report claims.

The report says that if there is a delay of about eight years (the expected average global implementation delay) in reaching the standards, the reduction would only be 10 per cent, translating into substantially greater health impacts over the period.

The report, ‘Hidden Assets: The Economic and Health Case for Climate and Clean Air Action’, was released by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) on Monday.

The report is the first comprehensive global economic assessment of integrated climate and clean-air action.

The document identifies 25 solutions to tackle both problems simultaneously – measures that are already feasible, like renewable power and energy efficiency, increasing clean cooking and heating solutions, and tighter vehicle emission and efficiency standards.

The annual economic benefits of implementing those measures would be equivalent to 2.8 per cent of global GDP in 2035, 4.5 per cent of the global GDP in 2050, and 11.4 per cent of the global GDP in 2100, according to the analysis.

Each year of delay foregoes more than 0.5 per cent of global GDP in benefits, equivalent to more than USD 1.5 trillion in combined market and non-market value.

“Strengthening enabling conditions — economic, social, technological and institutional — can bring all 25 solutions fully into place up to a decade sooner, substantially boosting reductions in PM2.5 and ozone precursors over the 2025-2050 period,” the report says.

Implementation delays of 7.5 to 8 years are expected globally on average, with institutional barriers the single largest contributor, accounting for approximately 2.4 years over a notional 15-year implementation window.

“A delay of this scale roughly halves the emissions reductions achievable by 2035,” it says.