Why I’m hopeful about Southeast Asia’s air quality challenge

November 2024 marks my return to the UK following a 14-month placement in our Singapore office.

The goal of my posting was to build on the air quality and climate programs Ricardo has been delivering in Southeast Asia over the past few years and to explore opportunities for sharing our clean energy and environmental services more widely.

It’s fair to say it has been an action-packed time, including various trips across the region to attend conferences, technical workshops and client meetings (plus all the challenges of relocating a young family to the other side of the world!).

Before I hand over the reins, I’d like to share some of the insights I have gained into the unique challenges of air pollution in this part of the world and explain why I believe there are reasons for optimism.

A global crisis

Air quality is a global environmental and public health crisis, yet severely underfunded and under-resourced (see the Clean Air Fund’s recent 2024 report on the State of Global Air Quality Funding). 

The brutal fact is that air pollution causes more than 8 million premature deaths annually, making it the second leading risk factor death. 

Most concerning is the impact on children, with recent studies estimating that 2,000 infants under five years old die each day due to poor air quality. And the Asian continent is disproportionately affected due it to being home to nine of the 10 most polluted cities in the world.

And that explains why we at Ricardo have such a strong interest in working with governments, partners and stakeholders throughout the region.

Southeast Asia's unique challenges

Our air quality practice has a strong reputation - we are the longest-established air quality team in the world and the largest in Europe, with over 200 scientists, consultants and engineers. 

Our work in Asia, however, is relatively new, having first established ourselves here in the early 2010s. 

But in that time we have been engaged in some of the region's most ambitious air quality initiatives, such as the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Asia Clean Blue Skies Programme. Other assignments have included capacity building for local teams, specialist data analysis to test potential solutions, and collaboration with stakeholders to support targeted clean air policies and investment.

All of which has given us considerable exposure to the region's challenges around air quality, namely: 

1. Rapid development is outpacing legislation

Eight of the world’s 20 fastest-growing economies are in Asia. This rapid growth presents both opportunities and obstacles in managing environmental impacts and protecting local communities. But has also meant the implementation of appropriate air quality legislation is frequently left lagging behind.

2. Agricultural burning

This issue causes severe spikes in pollution during burning seasons (e.g., Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand became the most polluted city in the world in 2023). Tackling crop burning will require international collaboration and the roll-out of widespread initiatives. Rightly, the issue is one of the region's main focuses of investment for improving air quality. However, being such a visible problem, focusing on agri-waste can divert attention from other critical pollution sources like heavy industry, transport and waste management. It has also become something of a political 'football', where arguments and debates have impeded action on the ground.

3. Local expertise

There are many talented air quality professionals in the region. A prime example is the Manila-based NGO, Clean Air Asia, with whom we at Ricardo have partnered on ADB’s air quality program for several years. Technical specialists like ourselves must learn how to best support initiatives to maximize air quality improvements efficiently. For example, other organisations may be better placed to offer local insights, whilst we can provide expertise in international best practices, state-of-the-art approaches to air quality assessment and a record of supporting successful air quality programmes.

A path forward

The challenge of air quality in Asia is colossal. Effective change will only be achieved through a combination of local knowledge and prioritised, evidence-based policy interventions backed by substantial investment support.

If this investment can be realised it will offer a range of benefits, not just relating to health, but also climate change, economic development and wider environmental improvements.

To have the best chance of success the work must be led by local governments, scientists and stakeholders, with international experts like Ricardo providing valuable insights and filling capacity gaps where needed.

Although, as I write, my time in Singapore is reaching its end, I look forward to returning to the region in the coming months and years. I'm also pleased to announce that Ricardo will continue to have a permanent air quality presence in the region, with my colleague Honor Puciato taking over as the Southeast Asia Air Quality Lead. 

Please do connect with Honor and myself as we continue to build partnerships to deliver genuine and lasting change for Asia’s most vulnerable communities.