Labs & Programs

Clean Air Program

The EPIC Clean Air Program is working to bring actionable information about the quality of the air we breathe and its impact on our health to every corner of the globe in order to empower action and work towards efficient air pollution policies.

The Challenge

Air pollution is the greatest external threat to public health—comparable only to that of smoking. But when people understand that pollution impacts their health, they can make decisions to protect themselves. Pollution data also allows policymakers to design clean air policies. Policy changes can then lead to reduced pollution and longer, healthier lives. This logic guides the EPIC Clean Air Program.

Our Approach

The EPIC Clean Air Program aims not only to expose the problem of pollution, but also to help solve it. We do this through an approach that provides people with local and impactful information and works with governments to design tools to reduce pollution without sacrificing economic growth.

Labs & Programs

Christa Hasenkopf

Director, EPIC Clean Air Program

“Air pollution remains one of the largest, but most tractable, public health problems the world faces. Data is critical to catalyzing action. But data alone is not enough. It must be matched by political will, ambitious policies, and sustained enforcement. The EPIC Clean Air Program aims to provide a foundation for countries to build on to bring cleaner air and healthier lives to their people.”

Air Quality Life Index (AQLI)

Understanding that air pollution impacts health.

Science has long shown that air pollution harms health, yet most people still don’t grasp the risk. Recognizing the need to communicate these risks in a way that resonates with people, EPIC launched the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) in 2018. The AQLI allows communities around the world to learn how the air they breathe is impacting how long they live. It also allows policymakers to better understand the benefits of air pollution policies in perhaps the most important measure that exists: longer lives.

Since its launch, the AQLI has been recognized in The New York Times as the “gold standard on global air quality research” and by Fast Company as a “World Changing Idea.” Having reached more than 1.1 billion people in at least 20 languages through its extensive media coverage, the AQLI is having an impact around the world. It has been used to strengthen calls for action and justify policy changes in India, Indonesia, Thailand, Pakistan, and beyond.

EPIC Air Quality Fund

Using local data to drive national clean air impacts.

Once people understand that pollution has deadly impacts, they can benefit from knowing whether they are breathing that high pollution every day; and, that daily data provides a guidepost for governments to set policies and evaluate their progress. Yet, nearly 5 billion people lack access to adequate local air quality information. Seeing this gap, EPIC launched the EPIC Air Quality Fund in 2024 to support local governments and organizations in installing air quality monitors, providing open data to communities, and using that data to drive national-level impact in countries that could benefit the most.

The Fund is currently supporting 70 awardees in government, academia, civil society, and the private sector who are installing more than 1,400 monitors across 44 countries where citizens are losing a combined 4.3 billion life years due to particulate pollution. Thirteen awardees have already helped catalyze national-level policy impacts in their countries, while increasing the number of Africa’s open data monitors by 80 percent in 18 months.

Emissions Market Accelerator

Policy action to reduce pollution while maintaining economic growth.

Armed with information, governments have the choice to act. Traditionally, that has meant needing to choose between a healthy environment and economic growth. EPIC is committed to helping governments design and build an approach that doesn’t require this tradeoff: emissions markets.

Researchers at EPIC and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) helped the Indian state of Gujarat design and launch the world’s first particulate pollution market. The pilot market dramatically raised compliance with the law, sharply reduced pollution, and increased industry profits—leading it to be named a 2025 Finalist for the prestigious Earthshot Prize. It serves as an important proof of concept that markets can work in the Global South and the benefits far outweigh the costs of implementation.

Building from this proof of concept, the Emissions Market Accelerator launched in 2025 to work with governments and industry to design and deploy markets. The EMA is working with government partners in India to set up several cap-and-trade markets throughout the country, as well as with the city of Rio de Janeiro, and conversations are underway with other international jurisdictions.