Breathing Inequality: When Clean Air Is a Luxury

Air pollution is often described as an environmental problem. In reality, it is a poverty problem.

This episode of Clean Air Report Ghana examines how dirty air in Accra is punishing those with the least power to escape it. From informal markets to densely populated neighbourhoods near traffic and waste sites, poorer communities are breathing the worst air — despite contributing the least to the pollution around them.

Host, Michael Asharley is joined by journalist Jennifer Ambolley, whose recent reporting follows traders, women, and families facing chronic illness, lost income, and rising medical costs linked directly to air pollution. Drawing on lived experiences and public health evidence, the episode shows how dirty air deepens inequality, widens health gaps, and locks households into cycles of vulnerability.

As Ghana works toward long-term air quality targets, this conversation asks a hard but necessary question: if clean air is a public good, why is it still distributed like a luxury?

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting.