The Peshawar Clean Air Alliance (PCAA) is a civil society alliance that began with a small group of concerned individuals and one crowd-sourced air quality monitor in 2020.
This alliance supported by the FCDO-funded Sustainable Energy & Economic Development (SEED) programme, uses an innovative collaborative, multi-partnership approach to help raise awareness about the causes and consequences of poor air quality in Peshawar, and support evidence-based advocacy to address Peshawar’s air quality issues. Since its inception, PCAA has expanded to over 150 members, and PCAA’s air quality monitor network has grown to 23 monitors installed across all major cities of the province. This was possible due to PCAA’s partnerships with the Bank of Khyber and Northwestern Hospital, IQAir and Pakistan Air Quality Initiative. The partnerships approach helps keep costs low, ensures sustainability of initiatives, and allows engagement with a wider set of people to promote government and civil society actions to reduce air pollution.
The alliance aims to strengthen the use of data and evidence in policy making and budget priorities, foster the development of comprehensive, effective regulations, and ensure the development and implementation of policies promoting green transport, improved waste management, low-cost technological solutions for brick kilns and increase of green spaces.
Country Profile (Pakistan): Opportunity Score 8.2 (Medium-High): Annual average PM2.5 levels are more than 8.5 times the WHO guideline. There is no public PM2.5 data produced by the government, but there is a national ambient air quality standard for PM2.5.