J-PAL Clean Air and Water Lab launch SARWA in Gujarat

Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) South Asia and Community Jameel announced the launch of the J-PAL Clean Air and Water Labs (AWL), during an event in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India. The AWL initiative in India will be known as Solutions and Advancements Through Research for Air and Water (SARWA). J-PAL South Asia is partnering with the Government of India’s Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DWWS) and the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) to design, test, implement and scale-up solutions that are effective in reducing air and water pollution. 

The AWL is part of broader efforts by J-PAL and Community Jameel to improve clean air and water access globally by scaling up effective programmes. J-PAL Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and J-PAL Africa has also launched similar Air and Water Labs in collaboration with Community Jameel.

‍Climate Labs are a network of programmes embedded multi-level government policy teams and designed to advance evidence-based and innovative approaches to policy making in the context of climate change.

The J-PAL Clean Air and Water Labs will address the global water and air pollution crises in vulnerable geographies that will collectively serve nearly 260 million people. The labs collaborate with local government in Cape Town, South Africa, state-level representatives in India, and national leadership in Egypt to tackle critical water and air challenges.

In India, about 75% of households lacked on-premise drinking water in 2018 and air pollution reduces the average life expectancy by 5 years.

J-PAL researchers in India will engage with government partners to co-diagnose the most urgent air and water challenges and opportunities for policy innovation, expand policymakers' access to and use of high-quality data, co-design potential evidence-based solutions, generate evidence through rigorous evaluation and use of existing and new data sources, and support scaling of effective air and water programmes and policies.