The United Nations Environment Programme and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition have warned that each year of delayed action would result in more than $1.5tn in lost annual benefits, equivalent to about 0.5 per cent of global GDP.
They also said every $1 invested in tackling climate change and air pollution together could generate about $15 in economic benefits.
The UN agencies disclosed this in a new report, Hidden Assets: The Economic and Health Case for Climate and Clean Air Action, released on Monday to mark the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies.
The report, described as the first comprehensive global economic assessment of integrated climate and clean-air action, said addressing the two challenges together would deliver greater economic and health gains than treating them separately.
According to the assessment, the annual economic benefits of implementing 25 identified measures would be equivalent to 2.8 per cent of global Gross Domestic Product by 2035, 4.5 per cent by 2050 and 11.4 per cent by 2100.
