International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies

2/5 Min

The UN Member States recognize the need to substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water, and soil pollution and contamination by 2030, as well as to reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying particular attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management by 2030.

Clean air is essential for the health and day-to-day lives of people, while air pollution is the single most significant environmental risk to human health and one of the main avoidable causes of death and disease globally. Air pollution disproportionately affects women, children, and older persons and also harms ecosystems.

Today, the international community acknowledges that improving air quality can enhance climate change mitigation and that climate change mitigation efforts can improve air quality.

Encouraged by the increasing interest of the international community in clean air, and emphasizing the need to make further efforts to improve air quality, including reducing air pollution, to protect human health, the General Assembly decided to designate 7 September as the International Day of Clean Air for blue skies.

Clean Air and Sustainable Development Goals

In the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, entitled “The future we want,” countries committed to promoting sustainable development policies that support healthy air quality in the context of sustainable cities and human settlements. Also, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which outlines a road map to achieving sustainable development, environmental protection, and prosperity for all, recognizes that air pollution abatement is important to attaining the Sustainable Development Goals.

A two-fold problem

Health impact: tiny, invisible particles of pollution penetrate deep into our lungs, bloodstream, and bodies. These pollutants are responsible for about one-third of deaths from stroke, chronic respiratory disease, lung cancer, and one-quarter of deaths from a heart attack. Ground-level ozone, produced from the interaction of many different pollutants in sunlight, is also a cause of asthma and chronic respiratory illnesses.

Climate impact: short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) are among those pollutants most linked with both health effects and near-term warming of the planet. They persist in the atmosphere for as little as a few days or up to a few decades, so reducing them can have almost immediate health and climate benefits for those living in places where levels fall.

2022 Theme: The Air We Share

This year’s theme of “The Air We Share” focuses on the transboundary nature of air pollution, stressing the need for collective accountability and action. It also highlights the need for immediate and strategic international and regional cooperation for more efficient implementation of mitigation policies and actions to tackle air pollution. We all breathe the same air, and one atmosphere protects and sustains us all. Pollution is a global problem that we must act together to combat. 

https://www.un.org/en/observances/clean-air-day