A view of traffic amid air pollution in Jakarta, Indonesia, June 27, 2023. In recent weeks, Jakarta has crept into the top of a list of cities with the worst air quality. According to metrics gauged by Swiss climate technology company IQAir, Jakarta recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) score of 157, placing it squarely in the “unhealthy” category. Earlier this month, Jakarta’s air was reported to consist of 67 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3) of PM 2.5 pollutants: a class of fine breathable matter that is often made out to be the cause of various respiratory diseases, which was 13.4 times higher than the level the World Health Organization (WHO) considers safe. The report ranked Jakarta among the top three of 61 cities observed worldwide for premature deaths related to such pollution, with more than 1,500 deaths blamed on coal power in 2019. That number can double to more than 3,000 if new plants are operational by 2030.