Air quality management in the Indo-Gangetic Plain and Himalayan Foothills

Organizers: ICIMOD, World Bank

About the event

We are organising a regional dialogue together with the World Bank and in collaboration with the Royal Government of Bhutan to further promote regional coordination and support clean air actions in the Indo-Gangetic Plain and Himalayan Foothills (IGP-HF) region.

This event is part of Action Area: Air, under the Strategic Group: Climate and Environmental Risks. It is delivered through the Himalayan Resilience Enabling Action Programme (HI-REAP), supported by the United Kingdom International Development.The event is also supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) through the World Bank.

Background

The IGP-HF airsheds are among the most severely polluted regions globally. These airsheds span across Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, encompassing both extensive and densely populated areas. Poor air quality in this region affects millions of people, particularly women, children, the elderly, and the disadvantaged, and significantly reduces economic productivity, with welfare costs estimated around 10 percent of Gross Domestic Product (Striving for Clean Air, 2023).

Governments in the IGP-HF region have taken steps to address air pollution, but more action is needed, given the sluggish air quality improvements across the major jurisdictions. Enhanced coordination between the countries and jurisdictions in the IGP-HF region on air quality management are critical seeing that most jurisdictions cannot meet any of the clean air goals that they set for themselves, if their neighbor does not also improve. Despite its complexities, solutions to air pollution exist, and many countries have improved their air quality, offering valuable lessons. Pollution from one area can impact other regions, making collaboration on monitoring and abatement essential.

The first Science-Policy Dialogue (SPD) on Air Quality Management in the HKH airshed took place in December 2022, in Kathmandu, Nepal, with the signing of the Kathmandu Roadmap for Improving Air Quality. This launched the SPD platform, which convenes countries and key jurisdictions within the region to deliberate on essential issues pertaining to regional AQM.

The 2nd regional SPD, held in Bhutan in June 2024, led to the issuance of the Thimphu Outcome to catalyse coordinated actions across sectors and borders for a cleaner and healthier region. The Thimphu Outcome emphasised the need for a collaborative airshed management approach at regional, national, and sub-national levels to address cross-border pollution sources such as transport, industry, power generation, waste burning, and agriculture. It also included recommendations for coordinated AQM, including for regional cooperation, sharing knowledge, and mobilising funding for green technologies and capacity building. The Thimphu Outcome also highlighted the need for accelerated actions to comply with National Ambient Air Quality Standards, and for considering an aspirational goal of < 35 μg/m3 for annual PM2.5 concentrations by 2035 (“35 by 35”).

Objectives of the event

The third regional dialogue aims to promote regional collaboration and coordination on AQM in the region by discussing a proposed structure of the IGP-HF platform for collaborative action on air quality management.

The SPFD will also:

• Highlight recent actions taken by the IGP-HF governments on AQM.
• Present the current landscape of AQ financing and discuss the role of development finance institutions and innovative financing.
• Discuss key actions needed to reduce air pollution from three sectors (crop residue burning, transport, clean cooking).
• Showcase advanced uses of digital technology such as artificial intelligence for AQM