Thread by @UlkaKelkar

Today was the beautifully named International Day of Clean Air for blue skies. A good day to remember all the many different ways in which climate change and air pollution connect with each other - from technology to policy to finance to equity...
#WorldCleanAirDay #TheAirWeShare

Policies to reduce GHGs will also cut air pollution. Meeting India's 2030 & 2070 climate targets announced at COP26 can cut both CO2 & PM10 by 70% compared to the BAU in 2050 and avoid ~60 lakh premature deaths due to air pollution over the next 3 decades
wri.org/research/pathw…

There is also an equity connection between climate change & air pollution. The IPCC sixth assessment report pointed out that the richest 10% households are responsible for 36-45% of global GHG emissions, while the bottom half account for only 13-15%.

In India too @ajaynagpure @AnuRamaswami found that the richest 20% households produce 3 times the GHG emissions as the poorest 20% (in Delhi, Coimbatore, Rajkot). In Delhi, the richest 20% households also produce 3 times the PM2.5 as the poorest 20%.
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.108…

Reducing GHGs or PM needs technology shifts not just planting trees to offset emissions e.g. @DAperspectives estimates that sequestering the annual GHG emissions from Bihar's brick kilns will take 2% of the state's limited forest area per year.

MSMEs can reduce GHGs & pollution but need the right financing models. e.g. in Indore, 36 steel & metal re-rolling mills with inefficient boilers could adopt bag filter systems but first needed a cost sharing agreement to be worked out with the industry association @CleanAirCAC

And finally, the very technologies that we are counting on to tackle climate change, are themselves made less effective by pollution. e.g. IIT Delhi scientists estimated that pollution reduced India's solar power by 12-41% over 2001-18.
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.108…