The King Climate Action Initiative: Accelerating solutions at the nexus of climate and poverty

Millions of people in Bangladesh suffer from lung and heart disease caused by air pollution, some of the worst in the world. Some of this pollution is caused by coal-burning brick kilns. With K-CAI support, a study revealed that training kiln owners in cleaner practices reduced CO₂ and pollution from brick firing by 20 percent, while increasing profits. The training was then scaled up, improving air quality for 17.5 million people. The government of Bangladesh has since integrated these practices into its national plans. Read more in our recent Evidence-to-Policy case study. 

The K-CAI support allowed us to immediately respond to the Government of Bangladesh's request that we work with them to scale the intervention across Bangladesh. We anticipate that this successful collaboration will unlock support for progressively upgrading kilns across the country."  —Stephen Luby, Stanford University

A J-PAL evaluation found that training kiln workers in Bangladesh to build more efficient kilns led to lower coal usage and higher profits. J-PAL’s King Climate Action Initiative is supporting a scale-up of these trainings, helping more than 17 million people breathe cleaner air. Photo credit: Sushanta Kumar Paul, icddr,b

In Gujarat, India, an innovative emissions trading market cut industrial pollution while saving companies’ money—a win for people’s health and for the economy. In 2025, the state of Gujarat was recognized as a finalist for Prince William’s Earthshot Prize for pioneering this solution. Building on this success, similar programs are now reaching millions more people and even expanding to new pollutants, like sulfur oxides in Maharashtra, India. 

At Climate Week in New York in September 2025, J-PAL (through K-CAI), J-PAL South Asia, and the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute launched the Emissions Market Accelerator (EMA) to advance this work. By combining technical expertise with deep partnerships with governments, EMA aims to scale up emissions market solutions that deliver climate benefits at a fraction of the cost of traditional approaches—making cleaner air and climate action achievable for all. 

Becoming an Earthshot Prize Finalist is a proud milestone for the Gujarat Pollution Control Board and the Emissions Market Accelerator. It is an international recognition of a solution born in Gujarat that has the potential to transform how the world addresses industrial pollution."  —Shri Devang M. Thaker, Member Secretary, Gujarat Pollution Control Board

Deforestation drives 8 billion tons of CO₂ emissions—more than all the cars, trucks, ships, and planes on Earth combined. At the same time, 1.6 billion people rely on forests for their livelihoods. Paying landowners to conserve forests through conditional cash transfers, a program approach known as Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES), has been shown to cut deforestation by 54 percent at a cost of just US$2.60 per ton of CO₂. 

At COP30, the 2025 United Nations conference for climate action, J-PAL’s regional office for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and the Nature Conservancy held an event to share evidence on PES, listen to policymakers, and collaborate to improve program design as it scales in the region, including exploring partnerships in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Guatemala.

Building on this work, J-PAL LAC aims to launch the Amazon Livelihoods Lab in 2026 to identify and test policies at the intersection of livelihoods and environment through randomized evaluations, government capacity building, and partnerships with local researchers and organizations. 

You’re not banning, you’re not coercing, but encouraging without further impoverishing poor people."  —Seema Jayachandran, Princeton, J-PAL affiliate

Esther Duflo introduces the Amazon Livelihoods Lab alongside indigenous leader Kleber Karipunaat and David Gelles of the New York Times at COP30 in Belem, Brazil in November, 2025. Photo credit: Community Jameel

How do you cut coal pollution in an industry full of informal businesses? A simple training program helped brick kiln owners in Bangladesh cut CO₂ and particulate pollution by 20 percent. Because the changes lowered coal expenses, kiln owners adopted them voluntarily. The intervention is now scaling up, improving air quality in and around urban areas in Bangladesh. Authored by Stephen Luby (Stanford), Nina Brooks (Boston University), Grant Miller (Stanford), and Aprajit Mahajan (UC Berkeley). Read the paper. 

In Mexico, a K-CAI-funded pilot tested a simple idea: Inviting farmers in a forest conservation program to enroll all their land in the program, not just part of it. The result? Deforestation fell by 41 percent, and the approach was four times more cost-effective than standard contracts. This work shows how smart design can protect forests while supporting farmers’ livelihoods. Building on this success, K-CAI is funding a large-scale trial in 2025. Authored by Seema Jayachandran (Princeton), Santiago Saavedra (Universidad del Rosario), and Santiago Izquierdo-Tort (University of British Columbia). Read the paper.

Even when electricity costs could be cut by using newer machines, factory owners may hesitate to purchase a new and unknown technology. When some owners were shown videos about the benefits of new technologies, they learned from each other and invested in the more efficient machines. Authored by Eric Verhoogen (Columbia), Ritam Chaurey (Johns Hopkins), Siddharth Sharma (World Bank), and Gaurav Nayyar (World Bank). Read the paper.

Factory owners in Dhaka, Bangladesh adopted better machines after a series of educational videos. Photo credit: Ritam Chaurey, World Bank

In the UK, Robert Metcalfe (Columbia) partnered with researchers at the Centre for Net Zero to conduct a study evaluating whether simple nudges encourage people to use AI-managed electric vehicle (EV) chargers. They found that while only 3-6 percent of households enrolled in the program, those that did shifted electricity use away from costly peak hours by 41 percent. This provides early evidence on how technology and behavioral insights can help reduce grid strain and emissions. Read the paper. 

Electric vehicles could charge at home at less expensive times with AI flexibility. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com

In Telangana, India, long-range monsoon forecasts changed how farmers planned and adapted to weather conditions. Good forecasts led farmers to plant more cash crops and invest in inputs, while poor forecasts pushed them to save and avoid debt. Overall wellbeing increased slightly, and K-CAI is funding follow-on research on these impacts. Authored by Fiona Burlig (University of Chicago), Amir Jina (University of Chicago), Erin M. Kelley (University of Chicago), Gregory V. Lane (University of Chicago) & Harshil Sahai (World Bank). Read the paper.