This 12 months’s International Day for Clean air and Blue Skies, celebrated yearly on 7 September, is concentrated on the theme ‘Invest in #CleanAirNow’ and highlights the financial, environmental and well being advantages of investing in clean air.
The Day was established in 2019 after the UN General Assembly famous how detrimental air pollution are and recognised the significance of clean air for individuals’s lives.
UN chief António Guterres stated pollution is a silent killer that can be stopped and urged the world to “invest now, so we can breathe easy”.
Invest in clean air
Mr. Guterres highlighted how dangerous air pollution can be, noting that 99 per cent of humanity breathes polluted air which ends up in tens of millions of world untimely deaths.
“Pollution is also choking economies and heating up our planet, adding fuel to the fire of the climate crisis,” the UN chief stated. “And it disproportionally affects those most vulnerable in society, including women, children, and older persons.”
The Secretary-General stated investing in clean air will take motion from governments, companies, improvement organizations and extra at a regional and world degree.
Mr. Guterres is encouraging the related stakeholders to lower their use of fossil fuels, transition to clean cooking and improve air high quality monitoring.
“Investing in clean air saves lives, combats climate change, strengthens economies, builds fairer societies, and advances the Sustainable Development Goals,” he stated. “…let’s invest now so we can breathe easy knowing we are securing a healthier planet for all.”
Air high quality and climate
Mr. Guterres’ message marking the worldwide day highlights a number of the challenges outlined in a new report from the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which particulars the impacts of climate change, wildfires and air air pollution on human well being.
The report famous that each the northern and southern hemispheres skilled “hyper-active wildfire seasons” in 2023 which prompted quite a few deaths and broken livestock.
“The 2023 wildfire season set a multi-decade record in Canada in terms of total area burned, with seven times more hectares burned than the 1990–2013 average, according to the Canadian National Fire Database,” the report said.
The wildfires also worsened air quality in eastern Canada and the north-eastern United States.
For that reason, the WMO Deputy-Secretary-General Ko Barrett stated climate change and air high quality can’t be handled individually.
“They go hand-in-hand and must be tackled together,” Ms. Barrett stated. “It would be a win-win situation for the health of our planet, its people and our economies, to recognise the inter-relationship and act accordingly.”
‘It knows no borders’
Also recognising the necessity for world change because the worldwide day for clear air approaches is the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) which described air air pollution because the “biggest environmental health risk of our time” noting that it worsens climate change, reduces agricultural productiveness and causes financial loss.
Inger Andersen, UNEP’s Executive Director, stated, “Every person on this planet has a right to breathe clean air, yet almost every person is having this right violated.”
Ms. Andersen echoed the UN chief’s name for there to be a worldwide funding in clean air.
“We are asking nations and regions and cities to establish robust air quality standards,” she stated.
“We are asking them to back renewable energy and sustainable transport to hold industry to account with strict emission standards, and to integrate air quality into climate action,” Ms. Andersen continued.
UNEP says if air air pollution is tackled proactively, transformative change and wholesome air can be achieved.
