For years, sustainability has come with a price tag. But a new UN report says we’ve been looking at the equation the wrong way.
Recently, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), alongside the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), released the first comprehensive global economic assessment of integrated climate and clean-air action: Hidden Assets: The Economic and Health Case for Climate and Clean Air Action. The report found that every $1 invested in tackling climate change and air pollution together could generate around $15 in economic benefits.
The report identifies 25 measures across energy and fossil fuel systems, industry, transport, agriculture and food systems, residential cooking and heating, and waste management.
If these measures were fully implemented, they could cut global CO2 emissions in half by 2050, reduce methane emissions by 60%, decrease major air pollutants by 70%, and prevent an estimated 144 million premature deaths from air pollution by 2050. The measures could also help to avoid approximately 0.34°C of global warming by 2050 and 1.4°C by 2100.
Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP, stated in a press release that governments and businesses have treated climate action as an expense and air pollution as an unavoidable by-product of economic development for too long. “This report shows the opposite,” she claimed, as it demonstrates that clean air is actually a key driver of development, and an asset that she believes “we must invest in.”
The report claims the economic benefits of implementing these 25 measures would be substantial. If implemented, the annual economic benefits would be equivalent to 2.8% of global GDP in 2035, 4.5% of global GDP in 2050, and 11.4% of global GDP in 2100.
This 15-to-1 return and high economic projections could make climate and clean-air initiatives attractive to investors, Elliott Harris, co-chair of the Assessment, said in a press release. “A benefit-cost ratio of 15 to 1 would attract capital instantly in almost any other sector. The only reason it hasn’t [attracted capital] on integrated climate and clean air action yet is that the returns are split across health systems, productivity and avoided climate damage rather than landing on a single balance sheet.” This makes the full return harder to see.
“Every year of delay costs the world more than $1.5 trillion in benefits we will not get back,” Harris continued, adding that treating climate and air quality as separate investments prevents governments and investors from recognizing their full economic potential.
The report reinforces that sustainability is not a cost of doing business, but an investment with significant economic returns. The findings suggest that investing in cleaner production, more efficient operations, lower emissions, and waste reduction could deliver benefits beyond environmental impact, including greater efficiency and long-term economic value.
As consumers and regulators alike continue to scrutinize industries' environmental footprint, the report encourages companies to view climate and clean air as an opportunity for growth and resilience, rather than just a box to be checked off.