The United States, Taiwan, and Clean Air Asia—an alliance representing organizations in China, India, and Indonesia—have signed a deal to curb city air pollution. The new deal, called the Cities Clean Air Partnership (CCAP), is the first major clean air partnership program designed to clean up cities in the Asia-Pacific region. The program will include sharing technologies, instituting a certification and scoring system to encourage clean air actions, and offering financial incentives to high-performing cities. Bjarne Pedersen, Executive Director of Clean Air Asia, called the CCAP a “landmark initiative towards air pollution prevention and control in Asia," commenting that “we can only significantly reduce the problem of air pollution through meaningful and effective partnerships among cities.” According to Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the South Pacific, air pollution is responsible for more than 3.7 million deaths per year and costs the global economy over $3.5 trillion per year in sickness and premature deaths. For the full story, see http://world.einnews.com/article/218041537/wEqlLT26sT8RlxSP and http://www.energyglobal.com/news/processing/articles/Asia-Pacific-EPA-clean-city-air.aspx#.U-4NM-NdXm9.