Applying a data-driven gender lens to air pollution policies in the ASEAN region

To illuminate the unequal burdens of air pollution, the authors shared case studies in the ASEAN region of approaches that better use and disaggregate data. These case studies demonstrate how policy decisions need to be based on data that highlight the differentiated and gendered health and socio-economic impacts of air pollution and other environmental challenges. The authors also reported on previous research in the region that examines air pollution and health impacts with a gender and intersectional lens, which has been minimal to date.

Key messages

• Policymakers should take into consideration the ways in which socio-economic and sociopolitical dimensions mediate air pollution impacts, including the ways social and power inequalities contribute to the conditions in which individuals are made more or less vulnerable
  to air pollution impacts.
• Gendered social dimensions affect the well-being of people in different ways and can influence an individual’s exposure to air pollution and its negative impacts.
• Gender and intersectional dimensions rarely inform the design and implementation of policy responses to air pollution, partly due to lack of disaggregated data, leading to unequal outcomes on different groups.

This report was developed as part of the 2021-2023 UN Environment Programme project “Strengthening ASEAN Member State Policies with Environmental Health Data on Costs of Inaction and Co-Benefits”. This project was funded by the UN Development Account.