Air Pollution in Delhi: Climate Change, Local Air Pollution and Human Health

Abstract

Indian cities are some of the most polluted on ambient air quality in the world, Delhi being the worst. These create a mounting burdens of non-communicable disease related to air pollution and other environmental exposures; emerging and resurgent infectious diseases; and the increasing importance of the social determinants of health. As such, the challenge for the government is defined by the need for coming up with policies that cut across multiple sectors. This case uses the air pollution in Delhi to discuss the complexities of regulation, technological transitions, business sustainability, the ethics of the distribution of the burdens of exposure, and the role of industry and individuals as they manifest themselves in and through the broader challenges of sustainable development in India.