Our Common Air

Our Common Air is a global commission bringing together powerful voices to accelerate collective action on air pollution and ensuring that the right to clean air can increasingly be realised by all. The initiative brings together high-level global experts and is co-chaired by Rt Hon Helen Clark (Board Chair of Partnership for Maternal Newborn & Child Health and former Prime Minister of New Zealand and UNDP Administrator) and Dr Soumya Swaminathan (former Chief Scientist at the World Health Organization and chair of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation).

Announced at COP28, the Our Common Air commission was co-convened by Dr Arunabha Ghosh, Founder and CEO of Council on Energy, Environment and Water, and Jane Burston, Founder and CEO of Clean Air Fund.

Purpose

The commission will convene a diverse group of global leaders from public health, government, academia and the private sector to explore:

Pathways to improving the quality and quantity of finance from public, private and philanthropic sources
How to strengthen the economic case for clean air
The creation of a network or centre to identify and share successful approaches
New mechanisms to track and report on national progress

The Commissioners are:

Dr Adriana Abdenur: Special Adviser to the President of the Republic of Brazil
Dr Arunabha Ghosh: Founder-CEO of Council on Energy, Environment and Water
Dr Christa Hasenkopf: Director, Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC)
Ms Gina McCarthy: Senior Fellow, The Fletcher School
Dr Izabella Teixeira: Co-Chair, International Resource Panel
Ms Jane Burston: CEO and founder of Clean Air Fund
Mr Junaid Ahmad: Vice President, Operations, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency of the World Bank Group
H.E. María Fernanda Espinosa: Executive Director, GWL Voices for Change & Inclusion
Dr Maria Neira: Director of the Public Health, Environment & Social Determinants of Health Department, World Health Organization
Ms Martina Otto: Head of Secretariat, Climate and Clean Air Coalition
Dr Naoko Ishii: Executive Vice President, Professor, Institute for Future initiative, University of Tokyo
Dr Olusoji Adeyi: President, Resilient Health Systems, LCC
Mr Paul Simons: Senior Fellow, Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs
Dr Puji Lestari: Professor, Bandung Institute of Technology
Ms Shirley Rodrigues: Deputy Mayor, Environment and Energy,Greater London Authority
Ms Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr: Mayor, Freetown, Sierra Leone

It’s hard to understand why cleaning up the air we share is still not getting the funding, attention and backing it deserves. Not only is air pollution a problem which can be solved, but improving air quality also delivers knock-on benefits for global health and green growth. This new Commission brings together leading thinkers to explore how best to fill the gaps in funding, evidence and accountability and advance progress on air pollution.

- Jane Burston, CEO and founder of Clean Air Fund
Clean air is not a luxury; it is a fundamental right and an asset. Achieving clean air is pivotal for human development, yet it is often put on the back burner. By highlighting the connections between clean air, reduced health risks, and economic prosperity, Our Common Air aims to build a compelling economic case for clearing the air and create a network of institutions to deliver solutions, provide requisite financial support and track progress.

- Arunabha Ghosh, CEO, CEEW