Asia in Focus:CLEAN AIR ANDTHE BUSINESSAND HUMANRIGHTS AGENDA

Approximately 92% of Asia-Pacific’s population is exposed to levels of air pollution that violate the human right to live in a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.1 Yet, air pollution does not affect everyone equally. Polluted air disproportionately impacts low-skilled workers, workers in the informal sector, Indigenous Peoples, women and children.

Air pollution also has negative implications for economies across the region, including loss of potential economic output (3.3% of global GDP, 2018), reduced productivity among workers and increased health care costs.2 Moreover, businesses located in countries with high levels of air pollution may face restricted access to capital markets. Businesses may also find it difficult to recruit from a global talent pool, which has grown increasingly mobile, health-conscious and environmentally aware.

Given the extent and criticality of the issue, research is urgently required into the root causes of air pollution and potential solutions. Among other prescriptions, this report concludes that governments must address clean air as a priority policy objective, rooted in the State’s duty to protect human rights. In this context, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) offer a useful framework to delineate the State’s responsibility to protect the right to clean air and provide access to remedy when abuses have occurred.3

Asia in Focus: Clean Air and the Business and Human Rights Agenda begins by examining the extent of the air pollution challenge in the region. Following this, the report highlights the major sources of air pollution in Asia and explores the cost implications for the region’s economies and people. The report then outlines challenges to formulating air pollution policy and charts mitigation measures already in place. The report concludes by exploring the link between air pollution and human rights, and demonstrating how international human rights instruments enable a rights-based approach to addressing environmental violations. Importantly, the report outlines how the three-pillared framework of the UNGPs might be applied to effectively overcome the air pollution challenge.