AQE promotes interventions and initiatives for healthy sectoral policies (including energy, transport, housing, urban development and electrification of health care facilities), addressing key risks to health from air pollution indoors and outdoors, and contributing to achieving health co-benefits from climate change mitigation policies.   

The unit leads the implementation of the World Health Assembly Resolution 68.8, Health and Environment: Addressing the Health Impacts of Air pollution. The focus of the unit includes ambient air pollution (defined as air pollution in the ambient environment and outdoor air, which may also enter homes) as well as household air pollution (defined as air pollution generated by household fuel combustion, leading to indoor air pollution and contributing to ambient air pollution).  The unit is also in charge of monitoring the achievement of SDG 3.9.1 (mortality rate attributed to household and ambient air pollution), SDG 7.1.2 (access to clean household energy), and SDG 11.6.2 (annual mean levels of air pollution in cities). 

AQH initiatives include advocating for and supporting technical and policy implementation of measures to prevent the health impacts of air pollution and obtain other health co-benefits, including: 

  • Urban Health Initiative (UHI)  which is piloting a model process for planning and building cities that encourages good health and improves air quality;  
  • Health and Energy Platform of Action (HEPA) , an initiative to strengthen cooperation between the health and energy sectors, and accelerate the transition to clean energy for clean cooking and health care facilities; and 
  • BreatheLife  a campaign to connect cities, regions and national governments committed to meeting WHO air quality guidelines, increase monitoring, accelerate solutions and empower citizens. 

Strategic Approach

Our strategy identifies concrete actions where the health sector has either a lead or important supporting role to play in promoting health in all policies and ensuring access to quality health services. The actions are organized into three cross-cutting areas:

1. Knowledge, evidence and measuring progress;
2. Institutional capacity building and technical support; and
3. Leadership and coordination.

The “WHO Strategic Approach for Air Quality, Energy Access and Health”, elaborates a framework and related actions for the period 2023-2030 to strengthen WHO’s efforts to protect populations from health risks related to air pollution and lack of energy access.

 

WHO strategic approach on air quality, energy access and health
17 October 2025

WHO strategic approach on air quality, energy access and health
WHO’s strategic approach supports countries in improving air quality, expanding clean energy access, and protecting public health.
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Leadership

Dr Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum

Head of Climate Change, Energy, and Air Quality Unit at WHO Headquaters

Email: healthclimate@who.int

Biography

Dr. Diarmid CAMPBELL-LENDRUM is the Head of Climate Change, Energy, and Air Quality Unit at WHO Headquarters. He has worked on the issue for over 20 years, playing key roles in the first quantitative estimates of global health impacts of climate change, resolutions of the World Health Assembly, WHO global conferences, and the expansion of WHO’s climate change and health support to over 30 low and middle income countries. A keen cyclist, he rode from Geneva to Paris for WHO’s 2nd Global Conference on Health and Climate Change and from Geneva to London the deliver the “Health Argument for Climate Action” WHO report and the "Healthy Climate Prescription" letter ahead of COP26.

Diarmid is author of over 100 journal papers, reports, and book chapters, a lead author on three Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, and of the first health report to the UN Climate Negotiations.  A keen cyclist, he rode from Geneva to Paris for WHO’s 2nd Global Conference on Health and Climate Change in 2016, and in 2021 - from Geneva to London to hand over the “COP26 Special Report – The Health Argument for Climate Action” to a group of pediatricians cycling to Glasgow.