37 out of 40 world’s most polluted cities are found in South Asia [1]. The issue is not limited to these thirty-seven cities rather it is a regional crisis cutting across boundaries. Air pollution across the region has been a long-standing blame game. Demonstrably, the poor quality of air in the region, along with prolonged and unresolved solutions to the problem has worsened the burden on the South Asian economy. The environmental emergency carries a hefty economic burden with an increased cost of healthcare, reduced worker productivity, and a decline in tourism [2].

This commentary argues that a fundamental shift in perspective is required to resolve the issue. A shift that moves away from the current model of finger-pointing between countries. A participatory and multi-level approach to clean air is what South Asia needs. This approach identifies the nature of the pollution crisis and necessitates collaboration at all levels – national, regional, and local – while actively engaging civil society. Recognizing the peculiar geopolitical nuances of the region, the commentary aims to provide a pragmatic outline wherein transnational governance is replaced by transboundary governance.

Magnitude of the Crisis

According to the recently released State of Global Air 2024 [3], in 2021, nearly half of all deaths from ozone-related diseases occurred in India, accounting for 237,000 recorded deaths. The annual number of deaths attributed to asbestos exposure globally is also estimated at around 200,000, illustrating that ozone-related mortality in India alone matches the worldwide toll of one of the most notorious occupational carcinogens [4]. Bangladesh was third on this list, with 15,000 deaths due to the same cause. Delhi, Lahore, and Dhaka [5] with Kathmandu entering the list of the world’s most polluted [6], owing to PM2.5 levels shooting beyond the WHO guidelines.

This environmental crisis has vast, varied, and overwhelming economic ramifications [7]. To put the severity into perspective, the Air Quality Life Index created by the Energy Policy Institute University of Chicago [8], showed that mortality in South Asian regions is about 100 times higher than in Europe and North America and is almost exclusively linked to outdoor air pollution. Locals in these areas are already headed toward an average life expectancy reduction of 5.3 years with New Delhi’s life expectancy cutting by almost 10 years. By some estimates, Air pollution has caused more deaths in a year than the COVID-19 pandemic that paused and pushed the world to action [9].

The economic cost of such disruptions along with air-pollution-related deaths is huge. Data reveals the estimated global economic cost of air pollution-related mortality in 2018 was USD 2.9 trillion, or roughly 3.3% of the world's GDP. To go even further, the estimated economic impact of air pollution in one of the most polluted cities in South Asia, Delhi, was USD 8.1 million in 2020 [10]. Furthermore, due to dangerously high levels of pollution, public spaces, schools, infrastructure projects, and other operations are suspended annually throughout the region, much like a ritual. While there isn’t specific data on the annual economic cost of such disruptions, the closure of facilities and essential services does have an obvious economic loss through lost productivity, educational interferences, increased healthcare expenses, reduced tourism, diminishing agricultural yield, and overall emotional burden.

If the problem is so apparent, what's hindering its solution?

Despite the obvious economic, environmental, and health impacts of the crisis, effective action has been hampered by a complicated web of inter-regional non-cooperation, political tensions, and conflicting national interests. Past efforts on managing shared air resources (transboundary air commons) in South Asia have shown promise but often the national and international efforts have been in vain. The success of dialogues and conventions has not always resulted in policy agreements and diplomatic progress between countries. There is great potential for collaboration at different levels. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) emerged as a potential platform for tackling air pollution on many fronts [11]. However, long standing political tensions, particularly between India and Pakistan, have rendered SAARC largely inactive. This highlights the significant geopolitical hurdles that must be overcome for traditional, top-down intergovernmental cooperation to succeed.

Internationally and internally, discussions and data have presented serious findings that all point towards an urgent need to resolve the environmental calamity in the South Asian region. Further to that, continuing disagreements over shared resources, between India and Pakistan over the Indus Waters Treaty [12] and similarly the Teesta River dispute [13] between India and Bangladesh, complicate the situation, elevate tensions, and hinder cooperation - evidently impacting air quality management discussions.

Ultimately, the core of the issue lies in the strained regional relations, particularly between India and Pakistan. Air pollution does not observe national demarcations and the region’s vast airshed presents the interconnectedness of it all. It’s widely discussed that almost 30% of the polluted [14] air in New Delhi originates in Pakistan’s Punjab province and the same is highlighted about the smog hanging over Lahore, which originates in the Indian states of Haryana and Punjab [15].

Regional cooperation, but not without its challenges

A distinct characteristic of air pollution is that it travels great distances and gets trapped in large airsheds [16], confining and homogenizing air quality for everyone. Therefore, working as a collective becomes critical. According to a World Bank study of the regional atmospheric model, if all the countries of the South Asian region, separately, implement certain solutions, the average exposure to pollutants would drop to 17 micrograms/m³ by 2030 [17]. This would require a coordinated, concerted, and complementary action plan wherein governments identify pollution hotspots that work under a common pollution reduction regime.

Essentially, the absence of dedicated regional forums in South Asia widens the gap in reaching pollution reduction goals and coordinating air quality management strategies between nations. While regional cooperation across the world is not without its challenges, past efforts have made promising strides in improving air quality that could present learnings for future endeavors. For instance, in its 2023 delegation, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh were committed signatories to the Male Declaration on Control and Prevention of Air Pollution [18, 19] which aimed to reduce emissions from key sectors [20]. This initiative like many others was a result of an increasing sense of emergency and a recognition of the need for regional cooperation but their success was tied to the tensions and misalignment between involved countries. The Male declaration was subsequently rendered unsuccessful and criticized for its voluntary nature and lack of binding obligations.

Similar challenges have been experienced in other regions such as the European Union (EU), wherein they achieved an impressive 40-80% reduction in harmful pollutants through the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) [21]. Another prominent example of cooperation towards a collective air quality improvement action is the European Union’s Air Quality Directive. The significant feature is that it sets legally binding directives for air pollutants with coherent regional policies and standards [22]. South Asia can adopt such a model to ensure accountability, transparency, and progress. Similarly, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution [23] provisioned monitoring and prevention along with cooperation and mutual assistance. The framework was founded on the idea of information sharing, joint research, and development of early warning systems. Relying on member-states for compliance and self-reporting proved detrimental to the agreement as it ran into problems and the goals of regional cooperation were not being met [24].

Intergovernmental cooperation has been key in actualising clean air vision in many regions of the world, and South Asia has tried a similar approach in the past, but regional tensions make it a challenge. Alternative models like ASEAN's agreement, while not without its limitations, offer possibilities for dialogue and information sharing, paving the way for future collaboration at all levels. Learning from these examples can help South Asia find its path to cleaner air [25].

Moving Towards Transboundary Governance

Traditional top-down intergovernmental agreements on air pollution have made little to no progress in South Asia, mainly because of the persistent regional rivalries and geopolitical complexities [26]. However, it is premature to label them on their inefficiency or failure. The real problem, here, is with a lack of proactive and purposeful stakeholder engagement that involves national, regional, and local bodies.

Instead of solely focusing on the shortcomings of intergovernmental agreements, shifts toward governance that transcend borders and react to the realities on the ground are important. Addressing air pollution in South Asia does not only require a multi-level stakeholder participation but also needs a sustainable and resilient sense of dialogue, trust, and a shared sense of purpose which is crucial for achieving a common outcome. Lastly but not the least, the effort must include public, scientific and policy communities to generate pressure based on data and foresight that focuses on incentivising governments to collaborate rather than compete.

A move towards a transboundary governance approach holds promise for South Asia as it identifies the broader ramifications of air pollution in the region - a paradigm shift that keeps inclusion, multi-level solutions, participation, trust, and a common goal at the heart of transboundary governance [26].

Multi-level Engagement and Solution: Including stakeholders at all levels is paramount, this would include national government, formal and informal regional bodies, local authorities, civil society organizations (CSOs), academic institutions, and private sector partners. At the national level, the government can set strong regulations on emissions, divert investments to clean energy infrastructure, and put sustainable practices in place. The local authorities, at their level, can determine green urban planning that would impact the transportation sector, and energy-efficient buildings and facilities. Local bodies have a crucial role to play in awareness-building and equipping citizens to identify and realize the impacts of their actions on the environment through behavioral change. At the regional level - dialogues, roundtables, and informal discussions, supported by joint research programs can be foundational for initiating evidence-based projects. 

The bottom-up nature of transboundary governance gives agency to each level across the region, allowing them to hold ownership and build trust while contributing to a common goal.

Participatory Approach: Transboundary governance is effective when the bottom-up approach at different levels of society utilizes behavioral change tools to nudge citizens and governments to take on more active roles. CSOs, academia, and research bodies that lie outside the traditional tiers of formal governance levels are core building blocks of driving change. Historically, NGOs have held governments accountable and endorsed cleaner and greener policies. Conversely, academicians and researchers utilize their scientific expertise to develop clean tech and produce evidence-based research on sustainable practices while informing readers of the economic cost of air pollution. Civil Society can also work alongside the farming community to minimize poor agricultural practices.

A Shared Future, Clean Air

The air pollution crisis in South Asia is convoluted but it is not impossible to overcome. Though a single, unified, and formal forum might be ideal for streamlining action across the region, exploring alternative and multi-level models of regional cooperation and fostering public pressure for change can pave the way for progress. Countries in South Asia need to realize the overall economic and social cost of poor air quality and make different levels of society responsible and accountable for their actions and inactions. Participatory policy dialogue and a conscious shift away from the blame game that continues to fracture cooperation is how the problem can be mitigated. By learning examples elsewhere and adapting them to the unique geopolitical landscape of South Asia, a path towards cleaner air can be found.