In Search of a Global Approach to Air Pollution: Some Legal Reflections on the Role of the SDGs

Air pollution is a major environmental problem, yet existing international legal responses fall short of adequately addressing the problem on a global scale. This article investigates if and how the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) fill the current legal and regulatory gap, and whether they can contribute to problem-solving. The SDGs do not have a separate goal that covers addressing poor air quality in its scope; however, they include several targets and indicators specific to the problem. The SDG framework is still far from offering a comprehensive approach to air pollution. Nonetheless, even in this limited capacity, the SDGs contribute meaningfully to legal responses to air pollution. First, the SDGs frame air pollution as a global development concern, given its impacts on health, the environment and economy worldwide. Second, the SDG framework proposes relatively precise targets and indicators on air quality that are globally applicable, which is significant given the absence of a global legal agreement on preventing air pollution. Third, the SDGs exhibit strong transnational legal characteristics and broadly define their norm addressees, thereby opening opportunities for a range of actors - nation-states, international organizations, and various stakeholders - to foster multi-stakeholder, multi-level cooperation to implement the Goals. Thus, the SDGs lay an important foundation for addressing air pollution on a global level and can contribute to further legal developments. As discussions about the SDGs’ post-2030 future are already underway, it is vital to establish a more systematic approach to air pollution in the subsequent framework, recognizing its complex linkages with other environmental issues and its relevance to overall sustainable development.