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World

UNEP calls for robust measures to boost air quality

2021-09-03 14:31:10

NAIROBI, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) on Thursday urged countries to ensure people breathe clean and safe air.

Inger Andersen, executive director of UNEP, said that the air that people breathe is a fundamental public good and that governments must do more to ensure it is clean and safe.

"There will be no jab to prevent seven million premature deaths caused by air pollution each year, a number poised to grow by more than 50 percent by 2050," Andersen remarked during the virtual launch of the first global assessment of air pollution legislation in Nairobi.

The study which was conducted by UNEP reveals that one-third of the world's countries have no legally mandated outdoor air quality standards.

It notes that where such laws exist, standards vary widely and often misalign with the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.

The report, titled "Regulating Air Quality: The first global assessment of air pollution legislation," observes that at least 31 percent of countries that have the power to introduce such ambient air quality standards have yet to adopt them.

It calls on more countries to adopt robust air quality laws, which include setting ambitious standards in law for both indoor and ambient air pollution and improving legal mechanisms for monitoring air quality.

The report called on countries to increase transparency, enhance enforcement systems and improve policy and regulatory coordination for national and transboundary air pollution.

UNEP emphasizes the consideration of a robust model of air quality governance in national legislation and makes the case for considering a global treaty on ambient air quality standards.

According to the UNEP report, air pollution has been identified by WHO as the single largest environmental health risk, with about 92 percent of the world's population living in places where air pollution levels exceed safe limits, disproportionately affecting women, children and elderly people in low-income countries.

The assessment reveals that although air pollution knows no borders, only 31 percent of countries have legal mechanisms to address it cross borders.

It notes that institutional responsibility for attaining standards is weak globally since only 33 percent of countries impose obligations to meet legally mandated standards.

So far, WHO has presented guideline values for ambient air quality but as the UNEP report indicates, there is no global alignment and common legal framework for applying them. Enditem

 

Editor:Jiang Yiwei