Air pollution is now the second leading risk of death worldwide, accounting for 8.1 million deaths globally in 2021.

As the world’s urban population grows, it is critical for policymakers and citizens to have access to data-driven scientific research that can empower communities and inform important environmental, air quality, and public health policy decisions.

The State of Global Air 2024 report by the Health Effects Institute provides a comprehensive analysis of data for air quality and health impacts for countries around the world. It serves as a key resource for governments and initiatives such as Breathe Cities, informing their work supporting cities to curb their air pollution and climate emissions.

On this episode, Katherine Oliver sits down with Antha Williams, who leads the Environment program at Bloomberg Philanthropies, Dr. Pallavi Pant, who leads the Global Health program at the Health Effects Institute, and Jaime Pumarejo, the first-ever Executive Director for the Breathe Cities initiative and the former Mayor of Barranquilla, Colombia, to discuss the state of global air pollution, how policymakers can use air quality data to inform their work towards climate progress, and why it’s important to tackle this issue at the local level to improve and save lives.