The SMEP Programme builds on a scoping study carried out by Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and York University, which identified several key industries in SSA and SA, namely food and beverages, textiles, chemicals, electrical equipment, and metals and the environmental and health impacts of these.

To complement this study, SMEP funded further exploration to obtain country- and sector-focussed insights and unpack these findings into potential areas for future SMEP funding of large-scale targeted research and possible interventions at a regional, country or more granular level.

As part of the SMEP prioritisation work for South Asia, SMEP contracted Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAHP), in partnership with Sustainable World-Air Quality Asia (SW-AQA), to develop the following in Bangladesh and Pakistan:

• An industry hazard-ranking methodology and tool, adaptable and scalable to any country.
• A country review including major polluting industrial sectors and associated directly attributable human health impacts, from which the top three polluting industries could be determined.