Whether pollution is increasing or decreasing, it’s clear that some regions of the world are much more polluted than other regions. People living in the most polluted places (the top quintile) breathe air that is six times more polluted than the air breathed by those living in the least polluted places (bottom quintile). That means that pollution in the most polluted places is cutting 2.7 more years off the lives of those living in them compared to those in the cleanest places.

While geographic terrain and meteorological factors can have an influence on pollution, varying policy ambitions in the form of clean air standards—and the ability of countries to enforce them—are a primary determinant of pollution levels. Yet, national air quality standards vary significantly around the world, with some countries enforcing strict limits as low as the WHO guideline, others setting looser limits up to 50 µg/m³, and some having no standards at all.

Together, 77 percent of countries and territories worldwide have either not met or do not have a national standard. Of the countries with no standard, almost none (less than 1 percent) of the governments provide fully open pollution data and two-thirds don’t have any government pollution monitoring. With little data, it is difficult to set pollution standards and enforce them. To help confront this challenge, this year EPIC launched the EPIC Air Quality Fund to support local groups and organizations in installing monitors and providing open data to communities that could benefit the most.