Inclusive societies protect current citizens’ well-being while ensuring that our investments today create a sustainable future for later generations. This involves building tools to protect citizens from climate-related natural disasters and pollution, and finding ways to increase accountability for climate change mitigation in private and public sector entities. At YIE, our research seeks to understand how to identify and address the sources of air pollution, test emissions markets, and expand the reach of flood warning systems, among other areas.

Our studies have demonstrated that providing advance cash transfers to farmers can incentivize them to use environmentally-friendly alternatives to crop burning, and that publicly disclosing pollution levels emitted by factories may increase the number of citations issued for exceeding emissions standards. By conducting causal impact evaluations in South Asia that deploy innovative technologies, we are testing data-driven solutions to counter climate change, such as by piloting the world’s first emissions trading systems for particulate matter. Can real-time data and market-based solutions curb air pollution without inhibiting economic growth? Can tracking down the sources of pollution and incentivizing reductions be a first step toward clearing the air in some of the world’s most polluted cities?