That’s despite most of the world’s most-polluted countries being in Africa and Asia. No US city ranks among the 50 most polluted in the world.

“If you were an alien looking at this problem, you’d be like, ‘Why in the world are these beings putting all their funding where the pollution is not as bad and there’s way less population?’” said Christa Hasenkopf, director of the Clean Air Program and founder of the EPIC Air Quality Fund at the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago.

North America received 34 percent of all foundation funding for the issue in 2023, versus less than 1 percent going to Africa and 6 percent going to Asia, excluding India and China.

Of the almost eight million deaths attributable to pollution in 2023, the majority were in Asia. Prolonged exposure to toxic particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) that is generally emitted from vehicles, manufacturing, and farming can lead to lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancers, and heart failure, as well as developmental delays in children and dementia.

That Africa and Asia receive so little philanthropic funding shows “the gross level of inequality of the Global North and Global South,” said Weenarin Lulitanonda, cofounder of the Thailand Clean Air Network, in an interview with NPQ.

Thailand’s cities often rank among the most polluted in the world. Lulitanonda explained that often the Global South experiences worse PM2.5 levels because the Global North has “exported” its own pollution by fueling high-emission petrochemical, agriculture, and manufacturing industries in places like Thailand.

“This problem is ultimately a global supply-chain issue,” she added.

According to Sean Maguire, CAF’s executive director of strategic partnerships, the disparity comes from the fact that foundations tend to be housed in higher-income countries, and they prefer to fund programs closer to home. “And that’s perfectly legitimate,” Maguire said in an interview with NPQ.

Read the full article about pollution at Nonprofit Quarterly.