Air Pollution & Environmental Justice
Clean air is a right,
not a privilege.
Air pollution is one of the biggest threats to public health – but not everyone breathes the same air.
Where you live, where your children go to school, the roads around your home and the quality of your local environment all shape the air you breathe. And whilst air pollution affects everyone, it doesn’t affect everyone equally.
Not everyone breathes the same air.
Air pollution is linked to a wide range of health conditions, including asthma, heart disease and poorer pregnancy outcomes, affecting people throughout life – from pregnancy and early childhood through to older age.
But the people who breathe the worst air aren’t there by chance.
Communities experiencing social disadvantage are often exposed to higher levels of air pollution because of where they live, work and spend time. Black families and other racially minoritised communities are also more likely to live in neighbourhoods with poorer air quality and fewer environmental protections.
When the people most affected by poor air quality are also those experiencing wider social and racial inequalities, clean air becomes more than an environmental issue – it becomes a social and racial justice issue too.
We see things differently.
At Global Child & Maternal Health, we believe everyone has the right to breathe clean air.
But cleaner air isn’t just about reducing pollution levels. It’s about understanding who is most affected, why those inequalities exist, and what needs to change.
That’s why we ask different questions.
We ask questions like…
How we create change.
Building
the evidence
We generate research to better understand how air pollution affects children, families and communities, and where environmental inequalities exist.
Learn more about building the evidence →Working alongside
communities
We work alongside communities to ensure lived experience shapes research, policy and action.
Learn more about working alongside communities →Influencing
policy
We work with local and national decision-makers to influence fairer environmental policy and systems change.
Learn more about influencing policy →Creating
partnerships
We bring together researchers, policymakers, charities and communities to turn evidence into action.
Learn more about creating partnerships →What needs to change.
Cleaner air isn’t just about changing the environment. It’s about changing the way decisions are made.
For too long, the experiences of the communities most affected by air pollution have been overlooked in research, policy and practice.
At Global Child & Maternal Health, we’re working towards a future where those voices aren’t an afterthought – they’re part of shaping the decisions from the very beginning.
Our Research
Black Child Clean Air Report
What do Black mothers know about the air they and their children breathe?
Our Black Child Clean Air Report explored how Black mothers and pregnant women understand air pollution and the risks it poses during pregnancy and childhood.
What we found was a gap between concern, knowledge and the power to act. Women were worried about air pollution, but awareness of its impact during pregnancy and early childhood was much lower – and even when families wanted to reduce their exposure, where they lived, their finances and the support they relied on could limit the choices available to them.
The message was clear: protecting mothers and their children from air pollution cannot be left to them alone.
The report sets out what needs to change across healthcare, policy and communities – and helped lay the foundations for the Black Child Clean Air work we’re continuing today.
Read the reportBlack Child Clean Air Conference 2026
How Clean Air
Shapes Black Childhoods
On Monday 22nd June, we brought together clinicians, researchers, policymakers, community organisations, campaigners and families to explore a simple but important question: what will it take to create healthier environments for Black children?
View conference