Air pollution remains one of the world’s leading environmental health risks, contributing to millions of premature deaths each year while creating growing regulatory, financial and reputational risks for businesses. As expectations for corporate environmental disclosure continue to increase, companies need practical approaches to understand, measure and report their air pollutant emissions. This publication explains how businesses can use air pollutant emission inventories to strengthen reporting under the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Communication on Progress (CoP) framework.

An air pollutant emissions inventory is more than a reporting tool. It helps companies understand where emissions occur, identify opportunities for reduction, and demonstrate progress over time.

Although developed to support UNGC reporting, the approaches described have wider value. Air pollutant emission inventories provide a foundation for understanding where emissions occur, evaluating their potential health and environmental impacts and integrating air pollution considerations into sustainability, ESG and corporate reporting processes. By integrating environmental data into strategic decision-making, companies can move beyond compliance towards more effective air pollution management.