The fourth annual International Day of Clean Air for blue skies will be held on 7 September 2023 under the theme Together for Clean Air, focusing on the need for strong partnerships, increased investment and shared responsibility to overcome air pollution.
Considered the biggest environmental health risk of recent times, air pollution can lead to stroke, heart and lung disease, respiratory ailments, like pneumonia, and cancer. With over 99 per cent of the global population breathing unsafe air, experts say that we must act urgently for the sake of people’s health and well-being. Air pollution is also strongly correlated with the worsening climate crisis, and it impacts ecosystems, threatening food security and economic productivity.
Given the transboundary nature of air pollution, experts say that collaboration between governments, development organizations, the private sector, civil society and academia is crucial to reducing pollution and improving air quality. Increasing available scientific evidence, monitoring air quality, enabling action across key sectors, and facilitating local, national, and global partnerships are necessary to tackle the problem and protect health and livelihoods.
Facilitated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Day of Clean Air for blue skies aims to highlight the importance of clean air, raise public awareness and spur action to improve air quality.
“With this year’s theme, Together for Clean Air, we want to encourage collaboration across borders and boundaries, between sectors and beyond silos to reduce air pollution and leverage finance and investments towards air quality measures and solutions,” says Martina Otto, Head of the Secretariat of the UNEP-convened Climate and Clean Air Coalition. “Everyone has a part to play, and everyone can benefit. Clean air is integral to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment.”
Air pollution comes from myriad sources, including industrial facilities, the extractive industry, household energy use, vehicles, wildfires and the burning of waste.
Air quality monitoring is a key step to understanding air pollution and prioritizing measures to attain air quality standards and meet public health goals. However, it is not a legal requirement in 37 per cent of countries, and experts are concerned about the rigour of monitoring in many others.
To address air pollution, governments must implement legislation and incentives that unlock clean air investments across sectors. There are proven, low-cost solutions to air pollution that can generate multiple important health benefits and reduce near-term warming. A just energy transition and net-zero pathways in transport, buildings and other areas can also generate clean air benefits.
Meanwhile, shifting away from unsustainable production and consumption patterns can reduce emissions of harmful pollutants. Individuals can make lifestyle changes to reduce their emissions while also urging governments and businesses, including financial institutions, to commit to net-zero emissions.
Through the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, UNEP works with governments, intergovernmental organizations, businesses, scientific institutions and civil society organizations to reduce black carbon, methane, tropospheric ozone and other pollutants that contribute to the climate crisis and endanger human health. UNEP, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, World Health Organization and World Bank co-launched the BreatheLife campaign in 2017 to mobilize cities and communities to reduce the impact of air pollution.
The 2022 observance of the International Day of Clean Air for blue skies focused on the transboundary nature of air pollution, its global impact and the need for collaboration. The theme in 2021 was the health impact of polluted air, especially relevant at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first observance in 2020 focused on the need for clean air for everyone and equity in access to clean air.
Every year, on 7 September, the world celebrates the International Day of Clean Air for blue skies. The day aims to raise awareness and facilitate actions to improve air quality. It is a global call to find new ways of doing things, to reduce the amount of air pollution we cause, and ensure that everyone, everywhere can enjoy their right to breathe clean air.
