Jakarta — Every USD 1 invested in tackling climate change and air pollution together could generate around USD 15 in economic benefits, according to a new United Nations report that says governments and investors are leaving trillions of dollars on the table by treating the two challenges separately.
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 the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies, on Monday, September 7. It is described as the first comprehensive global economic assessment of integrated climate and clean-air action.
The estimated USD 15 return includes market benefits such as lower healthcare costs, higher labour productivity and avoided damage from climate impacts, as well as the economic value of fewer premature deaths and healthier lives.
Even excluding non-market welfare benefits, the measures examined in the report could generate around USD 4 for every USD 1 invested.
“For too long, we have treated climate action as a cost to be managed and air pollution as the unfortunate outcome of development,” UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen said. “This report shows the opposite: clean air is a key driver of development, health, food and energy security, and climate stability – an asset we must invest in.”
The report estimates that implementing 25 measures across six major sectors would generate annual economic benefits equivalent to 2.8% of global GDP in 2035, rising to 4.5% in 2050 and 11.4% by 2100.
These measures include renewable energy and energy efficiency, better waste management and the phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons.
By comparison, explicit fossil fuel subsidies amounted to 2.18% of global GDP in 2022, while healthcare spending represented 9.3% of global GDP in 2023.
Delaying action would also carry a substantial economic cost. The report estimates that every year of delay would forgo more than USD 1.5 trillion in annual combined market and non-market benefits, equivalent to about 0.5% of global GDP.
“A benefit-cost ratio of 15 to 1 would attract capital instantly in almost any other sector,” said Elliott Harris, an independent co-chair of the assessment. He said the benefits of integrated action are often divided among health systems, productivity gains and avoided climate damage rather than appearing on a single balance sheet.
Millions of lives at stake
The economic case comes alongside a major health burden from air pollution. In 2025, human-caused outdoor air pollution from fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone was linked to an estimated 6.4 million premature deaths worldwide, according to the report. Household air pollution accounted for another 2 million premature deaths, including around 300,000 children.
Outdoor air pollution was also associated with an estimated 5.5 million new cases of childhood asthma and 2 million new cases of dementia in 2025, as well as millions of cases of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, diabetes, stroke and lung cancer.
Climate benefits
If implemented immediately, they could halve global carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 compared with the report’s baseline scenario, while cutting methane emissions by 60% and major air pollutants, including black carbon, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, by around 70%.
The combined measures could avoid about 0.34°C of global warming by 2050 and 1.4°C by 2100. By the end of the century, carbon dioxide emissions under the scenario would become net negative, while major air pollutants could decline by as much as 85%.
“Treating climate change and air pollution as separate problems causes us to underestimate the benefits of tackling either,” said Simon Dietz, co-chair of the assessment and professor of environmental policy at the London School of Economics.
The report estimates that cleaner air would account for almost half of total economic benefits by 2100, with many health and economic gains emerging quickly enough to outweigh implementation costs within a decade.
Despite the potential returns, institutional barriers remain a major obstacle. Fragmented decision-making, limited enforcement capacity and weak coordination between government agencies could delay full implementation of the measures by almost eight years globally, the report says.
Removing these barriers through fiscal incentives, stronger regulation and improved government coordination could accelerate the deployment of available technologies and unlock up to USD 10 trillion in additional health benefits by 2040, the report says. (nsh)
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