The United States has ended its air quality monitoring programme at embassies, which had been a vital source of pollution data, particularly in Beijing and New Delhi.
The move comes as the Trump administration imposes deep budget cuts, impacting various international and environmental initiatives.
The US State Department announced on Tuesday that it would no longer transmit real-time air quality data, citing “budget constraints” as the reason for the decision.
"The current budget climate requires us to make difficult cuts, and unfortunately, we cannot continue to publish this data," a spokesperson said. However, historical data will remain available on the Environmental Protection Agency's website, though live monitoring will be suspended unless funding is restored.
Since 2008, the US has provided air quality data through its embassies not only to assist American citizens living abroad but also as a way to share accurate environmental information that might otherwise be censored by local governments. The data, which tracked fine particulate matter (PM 2.5), had been particularly influential in countries with severe air pollution, such as China and India.
In China, where authorities banned the sharing of US embassy data ahead of a major summit in 2014, the US monitoring programme had a noticeable impact.
Researchers have pointed to cases where the public release of data showing worse pollution levels than government figures prompted the Chinese authorities to take action. The US embassy's pollution data had also served as a critical reference for India, which struggles with some of the world's highest pollution levels.
The suspension of the monitoring programme is part of a broader trend of reduced spending on international cooperation and environmental initiatives under President Trump.
Since his return to office in January, Trump has cut funding for several global programmes, including the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and rolled back various climate policies implemented by former President Joe Biden.
Air pollution remains a significant global issue, with the World Health Organisation estimating that it causes nearly seven million premature deaths every year, exacerbated by climate change.
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