Building up to the WHO Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health taking place in Colombia, a coalition of groups from the health community have called on governments and businesses to act urgently on the worldwide problem of air pollution.
Their call to action begins: ‘As representatives of the health community, we urge governments, world leaders and decision-makers to commit to strong, bold actions to ensure clean air for all.’
It emphasises that clean air is a right, recognised by the United Nations General Assembly, and all too often it is the vulnerable or impoverished communities that suffer most.
It reminds us that the health impacts of air pollution represents a US$ 8.1 trillion burden on the global economy and benefits of improving air quality easily outweighs the costs of doing so.
Governments are called upon to comply with WHO’s air quality guidelines, better protecting the 99% of the planet’s population who are exposed to pollution levels that currently exceed those guidelines.
The health impact of the continuing use of fossil fuels is also emphasised. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General is quoted: ‘Addiction to fossil fuels is not just an act of environmental vandalism. From the health perspective, it is an act of self-sabotage. This addiction not only drives the climate crisis but is a major contributor to air pollution’.
The call for action demands that decision and policy makers should ‘commit without delay’ to:
- Enforce robust measures to stop polluting the air, cutting emissions at source, and swiftly achieve the full implementation of WHO global air quality guidelines.
- Ensure just and inclusive clean energy transition and fossil fuel phase out in a fair and equitable manner.
- Strengthen actions for clean air, better monitoring and surveillance, and institutional capacity to limit air pollution and mitigate climate change.
- Increase domestic and international funding to elevate clean air as a priority on global and national health and political agendas.
- Build intersectoral workforces with the skills and capacity to design and implement policies to tackle air pollution, focusing on continuous awareness raising, training, research, and sharing best public health practices, especially in the most affected countries
Dr Maria Neira, Director of WHO’s Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health said: ‘Air pollution is a silent killer. On a global scale, air pollution trends remain largely unchanged in the last 10 years, impacting our health at each breath we take.
‘Leaders must make bold commitments, while the health community must continue advocating to protect our future. Join the call to action – your signature will help drive the change needed to protect public health from the growing threat of air pollution.’
Astrid Puentes Riaño, UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to a healthy environment.said: ‘Breathing clean air is undeniably essential for everyone to live, and essential for the right to a healthy environment. Therefore, governments and businesses must take pending urgent action to implement effective measures to guaranteeing it.’