Holding businesses accountable for air pollution

The article from CCLA Investment Management (CCLA) and Guy and St Thomas’ discusses the significant issue of air pollution, highlighting its destructive impacts on human health, the environment and the economy. It underscores the importance of corporate responsibility in addressing air pollution and the role of investors to drive change and demand transparency. By proposing a corporate global benchmark, their partnership looks forward and acts as a catalyst for reducing air pollution and its far-reaching consequences.

Air pollution is overlooked as one of the most urgent environmental crises of our time. World Health Organisation (WHO) data reveals that 99% of people worldwide breathe air that exceeds safe limits for key pollutants including unhealthy levels of fine particulate and dangerous amounts of nitrogen dioxide. Reducing this number and achieving global results requires local action.
Keen to lead this charge are CCLA and Guy and St Thomas’ Foundation who have partnered to form a groundbreaking initiative to hold businesses accountable for their contributions to air pollution.

Why air pollution demands change

Health is at the forefront of the air pollution crisis with approximately nine million deaths being directly linked to it every year – or one in six deaths globally. Non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, type 2 diabetes, cancers and neurological diseases are exacerbated, significantly reducing quality of life and life expectancy. Simply breathing has become a major risk for millions of people around the world.
Environmental consequences of air pollution unbalance nature’s equilibrium and make for a bleak outlook. Pollutants damage ecosystems and disturb biodiversity worldwide while emissions poison aquatic systems, degrade soils, and weaken forests, impacting the resilience of the natural world. Ground-level ozone damages vegetation, while excess sulphur leads to high levels of acid in rivers and lakes which can irreversibly damage trees and soils.
The economic consequences of air pollution are staggering. Over 1.2 billion working days are lost to ill health as a direct result of poor air quality, with estimates predicting this to reach 3.7 billion by 2060. In financial terms, this equates to a cost of US$8.1 trillion or 6.1% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Investing for change

Despite the devastating consequences, air pollution is often a blindspot for investors compared to other climate risks. Unlike climate change, which dominates across corporate reporting, air pollution is not often a disclosure requirement. The lack of scrutiny leaves companies with no incentive to address an issue they are contributing to.
By neglecting air pollution in corporate reporting, investors are at risk of supporting practices that harm public health and the environment, as well as long term business stability. Filling this information gap will create an investing environment that has the potential to drive meaningful social change.

Joining forces for a better future

Armed with an evidence-base of the human and environmental damage caused by poor air quality, CCLA and Guys and St Thomas’ are developing a system to rank corporate efforts to manage the air pollution caused by their operations.

The partners plan to develop a global benchmark, currently open for public consultation, that aims for greater transparency amongst businesses, listing their preparedness and resilience to the impact of urban air pollution. In doing so, providing investors with the tools needed to decision-make effectively.

Having commissioned a scoping review by Chronos Sustainability Ltd to explore the role of investors in tackling corporate air pollution, the partners plan to develop a global benchmark designed to assess company approaches to managing and reporting on urban air pollution attributable to their operations.

Specifically, the benchmark will:

– Define investor expectations of companies involved in urban road transport.
– Drive increased transparency and disclosure by companies on air pollution.
– Provide investors with an accessible way to understand and evaluate corporate practices.
– Showcase examples of good practice in corporate management of air pollution for the benefit of investors and companies.

What can I do?

CCLA and Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation are inviting public feedback on this proposed action. They are seeking input from a range of stakeholders – including public sector bodies, investors, companies, academics, non-governmental organisations – with an interest in reducing the impacts of corporate air pollution on public health and the environment.
If you are interested in helping to shape the future of corporate accountability for air pollution visit Consultation on a proposed corporate air pollution benchmark | CCLA to have your say by January 17th.