By working towards improving global air quality and eliminating harmful chemicals, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) is contributing to Sustainable Development Goal 3 and Goal 12 which aim to ensure healthy lives for all and promote the sound management of chemicals to minimize their effect on humans and the environment.
Air Pollution
Air pollution is the single largest environment-related global health risk of our time, causing approximately 7 million premature deaths globally every year.
The International Day of Clean Air for blue skies calls on governments, corporations, civil society and individuals to take action to reduce air pollution and bring about transformative change and #CleanAirForAll.
Recognizing this growing global threat of air pollution, the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) has adopted resolutions to guide governments in promoting better air quality. As a result, UNEP produced a global Actions on Air Quality report that provides a review of actions being undertaken by governments to improve air quality and to highlight related public health, environmental and economic benefits.
The recent UNEA-5 side event, Clean Air: Regional Responses to the Air Pollution Crisis, addressed the necessary components for air quality management and the potential for regional cooperation to bridge gaps and build capacity. The event featured Monica Medina, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.
The recently launched report Actions on Air Quality in North America: Canadian and U.S. Policies and Programmes to Reduce Air Pollution, highlights the progress that both countries have made towards reducing air pollution through air quality management planning and provides case studies.
In North America, approximately 3 out of 10 people live in areas live in areas where one or more of their respective ambient air quality standards are not met. The burden of air pollution is far from evenly shared and people of color and low-income neighborhoods face a significantly higher risk of environmental health effects.
The story of Stockton, California, demonstrates the importance of engaging with frontline communities, who face the greatest challenges and often have some of the most practical solutions, on issues like air quality management.
The Climate and Clean Air Coalition, is an international partnership hosted by UNEP, that is working to protect the climate and improve air quality in communities around the world through actions to reduce short-lived climate pollutants. This has the potential to slow down global warming by as much as 0.5° C by 2050.
Chemicals and E-Waste
Though chemicals bring benefits for the economy, the rapid increase in their use and build up in our environment comes at a price for human and planetary health.
UNEP is working to eliminate harmful by phasing out the use of lead in paint and tackling global electronic waste (e-waste) production.
The world produces as much as 50 million tons of e-waste a year, weighing more than all of the commercial airliners ever made, and only 20% of this is formally recycled.
To address this, UN agencies have come together with the World Economic Forum, the Global Environment Facility and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development to call for A New Circular Vision for Electronics.
