Person:
Amann, Markus

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Air quality management, Cost-effectiveness analysis
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0000-0002-1963-0972
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Last updated: February 21, 2024
Biography
Markus Amann, consultant to the World Bank, served at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) as Program Director for ‘Air Quality and Greenhouse Gases’. He led the ‘Centre for Integrated Assessment Modelling’ of the UN-ECE Air Convention and coordinated scientific policy analyses to support international clean air policies in Europe and Asia, inter alia for the National Emission Ceilings Directive of the European Union and the climate policy proposals of the European Commission.

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    Nature's Frontiers: Achieving Sustainability, Efficiency, and Prosperity with Natural Capital
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-06-27) Damania, Richard; Polasky, Stephen; Ruckelshaus, Mary; Russ, Jason; Amann, Markus; Chaplin-Kramer, Rebecca; Gerber, James; Hawthorne, Peter; Heger, Martin Philipp; Mamun, Saleh; Ruta, Giovanni; Schmitt, Rafael; Smith, Jeffrey; Vogl, Adrian; Wagner, Fabian; Zaveri, Esha
    The great expansion of economic activity since the end of World War II has caused an unprecedented rise in living standards, but it has also caused rapid changes in earth systems. Nearly all types of natural capital—the world’s stock of resources and services provided by nature—are in decline. Clean air, abundant and clean water, fertile soils, productive fisheries, dense forests, and healthy oceans are critical for healthy lives and healthy economies. Mounting pressures, however, suggest that the trend of declining natural capital may cast a long shadow into the future. "Nature’s Frontiers: Achieving Sustainability, Efficiency, and Prosperity with Natural Capital" presents a novel approach to address these foundational challenges of sustainability. A methodology combining innovative science, new data sources, and cutting-edge biophysical and economic models builds sustainable resource efficiency frontiers to assess how countries can sustainably use their natural capital more efficiently. The analysis provides recommendations on how countries can better use their natural capital to achieve their economic and environ mental goals. The report indicates that significant efficiency gaps exist in nearly every country. Closing these gaps can address many of the world’s pressing economic and environmental problems—economic productivity, health, food and water security, and climate change. Although the approach outlined in this report will entail demanding policy reforms, the costs of inaction will be far higher.
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    Air Pollution and Climate Change: From Co-Benefits to Coherent Policies
    (Washington, DC : World Bank, 2022) Peszko, Grzegorz; Awe, Yewande; Kleiman, Gary; Rabie, Tamer Samah; Amann, Markus
    Achieving carbon neutral development will take a roughly 40-year-long structural transformation, especially in developing and emerging economies, where most people exposed to poor air quality live. In the meantime, 6-7 million people die each year by breathing polluted air. But does climate action always lead to better air quality? Likewise, do air pollution policies always lead to cooler climate? The answers are not as obvious as one might expect. For example, while short-lived climate pollutants contribute to air pollution, some important air pollutants cool the climate with an equal countervailing force. Retrofitting coal-fired power plants with modern air pollution filters can quickly reduce most air pollution but slightly increases carbon emissions. In the absence of effective carbon pricing, this can lock in carbon-intensive installations for decades. On the other hand, putting a price on carbon in the absence of effective air-quality policies can encourage firms to switch off air pollution filters. Carbon pricing can also push lower-income households to use biomass and waste instead of gas, electricity, or district heating for cooking and heating and increase population exposure to air pollution. These tensions do not justify inaction on any of these major market failures. But neither of these environmental problems can be solved effectively by pursuing one-sided environmental policies. This report brings much-needed realism to the climate and air pollution debate. It analyzes international experience to identify effective pathways to coherent policy packages that harness synergies and manage inevitable tensions between climate mitigation and air-quality management. It helps decision makers to prioritize pollutants and emission sources and implement regulations that will encourage economic actors to implement technical and behavioral measures in a way that quickly saves people's lives while navigating the longer journey to a low-carbon future.