A/HRC/40/55 cooktops and renewable electricity. The programme aims to replace LPG-based cooktops and water heating systems with electric systems for 3 million families. Families will save time cooking, and the programme will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.49 91. The International Energy Agency estimated that annual investments of $4.7 billion could achieve universal access to clean cooking by 2030. 50 This relatively modest investment would produce tremendous returns: millions of premature deaths avoided each year, improved health, better quality of life, expanded economic opportunities, reduced deforestation and decreased greenhouse gas emissions. B. Cleaner air: progress in reducing ambient air pollution 92. There is compelling evidence that enacting and enforcing strong air quality regulations saves lives and prevents illnesses. Since the Clean Air Act was enacted in 1970, the economy of the United States of America has grown by 262 per cent (measured by increased gross domestic product) while achieving average reductions of 73 per cent for six main air pollutants. Full implementation of the Clean Air Act will prevent 230,000 premature deaths per year by 2020. Its costs are measured in billions of dollars, while the benefits are in the trillions. 51 Reduced air pollution in California resulted in significant improvements in children’s lung function.52 93. Air quality in China is improving as a result of strong laws, policies and actions. China strengthened its Law on the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution Control and invested hundreds of billions of dollars to improve air quality. The Government is implementing a “three-year plan on defending the blue sky”, with specific targets for reducing air pollution by 2020. Levels of particulate matter in 74 cities decreased by 33 per cent in five years.53 China also achieved substantial reductions in nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide. Cleaner air is linked to significant declines in infant mortality. 54 94. Shenzhen, in southern China, has grown from a town of 30,000 in 1980 to a megalopolis of 12 million, but managed to maintain 45 per cent of the metropolitan area as green space. Shenzhen converted its entire municipal bus fleet − more than 16,000 buses − to fully electric, making a significant contribution to improving urban air quality. 95. Several States explicitly recognize the right to breathe clean air. Examples include the Philippines Clean Air Act, the Environmental Code of France and the General Law on the Environment and Natural Resources 2000 of the Dominican Republic. The right to breathe clean air is also recognized at the subnational level in some countries, including the state constitutions of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts in the United States. 55 In other countries, including India and Pakistan, courts have clarified that the right to breathe clean air is constitutionally protected because it is an integral component of the rights to life and health. The National Strategy for Air Quality Management of Lebanon states: “Every citizen has the right to enjoy clean air.” 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 16 See https://unfccc.int/climate-action/momentum-for-change/activity-database/efficient-cookingprogram-ecp. World Bank, The State of the Global Clean and Improved Cooking Sector, p. 8. United States Environmental Protection Agency, The Benefits and Costs of the Clean Air Act from 1990 to 2020 (2011). W.J. Gauderman and others, “Association of improved air quality with lung development in children”, New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 372, No. 10 (5 March 2015), pp. 905–913. J. Huang and others, “Health impact of China’s Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan: an analysis of national air quality monitoring and mortality data”, Lancet Planetary Health, vol. 2, No. 7 (July 2018), pp. e313−323. S. Tanaka, “Environmental regulations on air pollution in China and their impact on infant mortality”, Journal of Health Economics, vol. 42 (July 2015), pp. 90−103. Constitution of the State of Pennsylvania: art. 27: “The people have a right to clean air ….”