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The United Nations established the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies to highlight the urgent need for stronger international cooperation to combat air pollution. First observed in 2020, this day emphasizes that clean air is essential for health, sustainable development, and climate action. It also reminds us that the atmosphere knows no borders—air pollution in one region affects people everywhere.
Clean air is not a luxury; it is a fundamental human right. Protecting the atmosphere is not only an environmental policy but also an obligation rooted in the third generation of human rights—solidarity rights. These rights recognize that challenges such as environmental protection, sustainable development, and peace require collective responsibility and action by all states and peoples.
The duty to ensure clean air is not limited to present needs. It extends to our moral and legal responsibility towards future generations. Polluting the air today, destroying forests, and ignoring climate change is nothing less than robbing our children and grandchildren of their right to live in a safe, healthy, and sustainable environment.
Tragically, the global reality points in another direction. Governments invest tens of millions of dollars in research projects to explore whether life is possible on distant planets. Yet the bitter irony is that we are failing to protect Earth—the only planet we know that sustains human life. Instead of dedicating sufficient resources to preserve our air, water, and soil, societies are often caught in cycles of overconsumption, short-term profit, and destructive development.
The consequences are dire: rising levels of air pollution cause millions of premature deaths each year, especially among vulnerable populations. Children, the elderly, and those living in poverty suffer the most. At the same time, unchecked climate change threatens food security, increases forced migration, and fuels new conflicts over scarce resources.
These challenges are even more severe in landlocked countries, such as Afghanistan and others in Central Asia and Africa. Without direct access to the sea, these nations depend heavily on energy imports and often face limited resources to invest in clean technologies. Their populations are therefore more vulnerable to the compounded effects of air pollution, poverty, and climate change. Addressing their needs is not only a matter of environmental policy but also of global justice and equity.
On this day, Roya Institute calls upon governments, civil society, and individuals to recognize clean air as a shared human right that can only be secured through solidarity, accountability, and action. Protecting our skies requires reducing emissions, investing in renewable energy, enforcing environmental regulations, and promoting education for sustainable living.
The path forward must be built on the principle that safeguarding Earth is safeguarding humanity itself. Our planet is not disposable, and our duty to protect it is both an ethical imperative and a human rights obligation. True commitment to justice means ensuring that every child—today and tomorrow—breathes clean air under blue skies.