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Welcome to the the second issue of the Clean Air Countdown, the regular briefing from the global #BreatheLife campaign, whose aim is to reduce annual deaths from air pollution by 50 percent by 2030. 

As cities and regions around the world mobilize to meet WHO air quality guidelines, this newsletter will mark milestones, celebrate successes and highlight top headlines from the global campaign for cleaner air.

In this month's issue: regions join #BreatheLife in force; highlights from the World Urban Forum in Kuala Lumpur and new takes on the Paris Agreement; air pollution's impact on children, babies, genes and behaviour;  plus updates, headlines and more. 


WELCOME TO THE BREATHELIFE NETWORK

We’d like to extend a very warm welcome to the newest cities and regions to join the BreatheLife network!
 

San Antonio, Texas, United States

San Antonio joined the BreatheLife network on 14 March 2018 already a leader implementing existing strategies and plans to drive energy growth and clean transport solutions, including converting its entire bus fleet to green buses. Its SA Tomorrow Sustainability Plan focuses on energy, food systems, green buildings and infrastructure, land use and transportation, natural resources, public health and solid waste. Read about San Antonio's journey here

Mount Barker, South Australia, Australia
Mount Barker, one of Australia's fastest-growing regional centres, has the distinction of being the first Australian city to join the BreatheLife campaign. The city 
will focus on urban greening, walking and riding trails and improving public transport options to keep its liveability high. Read more about Mount Barker's journey here

Azuay, Ecuador,  Campeche, Mexico and Lombardy, Italy 


Regions are joining the BreatheLife campaign in force. Three new regions came online recently, with four more waiting in the wings, bringing to 10 the total number of regions already in the network. In its campaign for cleaner air, Azuay is focusing on sustainable agriculture and waste management. Campeche is pursuing a Sustainable Development Plan that includes more green space, bicycle and walking paths, and a long-term plan for efficient mass transit, while working on policies to mitigate and regulate air pollution. Lombardy, home to 10 million people and generating a fifth of Italy's GDP, adopted an Air Quality Plan in 2013 consisting of 91 measures to reduce emissions. 

HIGHLIGHTS


African countries progressing towards cleaner car imports
With the right policies and fiscal measures, harmonized across sub-regions, used vehicle imports are an opportunity for Africa to leapfrog to much cleaner and more energy efficient vehicle technology and fleets, says UN Environment's Rob De Jong. And African countries are indeed on the move in this direction. Countries discussed this and more at the Africa Clean Mobility Week Conference in Nairobi. 
Read more

Building healthy, pollution-free cities a hot issue at the World Urban Forum

Ensuring that health is adequately considered in the building of sustainable, pollution-free cities was a hot topic at the 9th World Urban Forum and the WHO European Healthy Cities Summit of Mayors.
Read more

Paris climate agreement can be "most ambitious public health treaty ever": Dr Maria Neira
The Paris Agreement on Climate Change should be considered “the most ambitious public health treaty ever” because the action required to stabilise the climate within a habitable zone and in an equitable way has deep implications for public health. The World Health Organization’s Director of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health Dr Maria Neira made this point in a recent interview with the Financial Times, arguing that air pollution was first and foremost a health issue.
Read more

Implementing Paris Agreement Could Save Governments USD 54 Trillion in Health Care – Report
Meeting the objectives of the Paris Climate Change Agreement by investing in low emissions technology would save governments around USD 54 trillion in health care costs by 2050, including those associated with polluted air. That’s the conclusion of a study published in the Lancet Planetary Health, which found that investing in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions would be much cheaper than paying the health costs associated with polluted air while also resulting in millions fewer premature deaths.
Read more
CALLING FOR NOMINATIONS
Entries are now being accepted for the 2018 Climate and Clean Air Awards. The deadline to enter is Monday, 4 June, 2018. 

The Climate and Clean Air Awards are given annually to recognize exceptional contributions and actions taken by individuals or groups to reduce short-lived climate pollutants. This can include transformative or innovative actions to reduce black carbon and methane emissions from household energy, transportation, municipal solid waste, the brick sector and other combustion industries, agriculture and the oil and gas industry; or to replace hydrofluorocarbons used in cooling and refrigeration.

MORE INFORMATION HERE
CALLING FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
City Partnerships Challenge – Accelerating Implementation of Partnered Projects

Does your city, town or local government want to accelerate the implementation of partnered projects that can attract investment to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda?

The City Partnerships Challenge is a two-year capacity development, facilitation and coaching process for city and regional city governments, led by the UN Global Compact – Cities Programme with support from a number of international and local partners.

The ‘City Partnerships Challenge’ is now open to cities and regional governments from around the world. The deadline for submissions of expressions of interest is 28 May 2018. 

MORE INFORMATION HERE

SCIENCE REPORT

Pollution linked to brain abnormalities in babies

A European study published in Biological Psychiatry found that exposure to air pollution while still in the womb is linked to brain abnormalities that could contribute to impaired cognitive function in school-age children. Meanwhile, a report released by the Mongolian Center for Public Health and UNICEF, Mongolia’s air pollution crisis: A call to action to protect children’s health, raised the alarm about the impact of air pollution on the health of children, anticipating that the financial cost in Mongolia of treating diseases in children caused by air pollution would increase by 33 per cent in just seven years’ time.

Air pollution alters genes

A nascent area of research has found evidence that exposure to air pollution alters genes. A study in the journal Nature Communications found that air pollution caused genetic changes that were linked to cardiovascular and respiratory health risks that overpowered the influence of genetic inheritance. Another study, this time published in Environment International, found that children born into an environment polluted by coal burning had shorter telomeres than those born when the source of that pollution was removed. Shortened telomere length has been linked with cancer and heart disease, cognitive decline, aging, and premature death.  

Air pollution leads to dishonesty and crime

Polluted air causes personal anxiety levels to rise, which leads to unethical behaviour, according to a recent study. Interestingly, air pollution, particularly in the form of ground-level ozone, also appears to increase the risk of death in people with mental and behavioural disorders, as this study found. 

WATCH

Air pollution is an invisible killer that lurks all around us, preying on the young and old. The World Health Organization has produced a series of videos that illustrate how it slips unnoticed past our body's defenses causing deaths from heart attack, strokes, lung disease and cancer.

Watch it in all six UN languages here.

CLIMATE & CLEAN AIR HEADLINES

UN Rideshare app makes its debut at Asia-Pacific Clean Air Week
UNICEF: Mongolia’s air pollution causes child health crisis
London transport plan signals 'unprecedented' clean transport focus for capital
S. Korea to apply stricter fine dust guideline to reduce air pollution
European cities consider making public transport free to tackle air pollution
China 'winning' war on smog, helping life expectancy: study 
German court rules cities can ban diesel cars
Rome to ban diesel cars to combat air pollution by 2024
Coal Plant Closures Drive U.K. Air Pollution to Record Lows

EVENTS

Webinar: Measuring and fighting food waste to achieve SDG 12.3
Organizer: One Planet Network
Date: 9 April 2018
Time: 14:00 - 15:30 CEST
Hear directly from the governments of Brazil, Colombia, the Netherlands and the United States of America as they describe their experiences in rolling out food waste policies. Learn more about the Sustainable Food Systems Programme of the One Planet Network and what it is doing to provide implementation support.
REGISTER HERE

Global Methane Forum
Organizer: Climate and Clean Air Coalition
Date: 16 - 18 April 2018
Venue: Toronto, Canada
Methane experts and policy-makers from around the world will come together to discuss options for methane reduction and abatement activities. Includes high-level plenary sessions on cross-cutting issues such as project financing; technical sessions on biogas (agricultural sources, municipal solid waste, municipal wastewater systems), coal mines, and oil and natural gas systems; and opportunities for networking with methane experts in the public and private sectors from around the world. 
MORE INFORMATION

Save the date: WHO’s First Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health
Organizer: World Health Organization 
Date: 30 October - 1 November 2018
Venue: Geneva, Switzerland
This is the first global event to focus on both air pollution and health. Participants will include Ministers of Health and Environment and other national representatives; health professionals; and representatives of intergovernmental agencies, relevant sectors (e.g., transport, energy), research, academia and civil society. 
MORE INFORMATION

Webinar: Best Practices for Waste Characterisation Studies
Organizer: Climate and Clean Air Coalition
Date: Thursday, 29 March 2018
Time: 14:00 - 15:00 CET (UTC+1)
A waste characterization study is an important tool for helping local governments and private companies make decisions on the best solid waste management programs, policies, and technologies to reduce short-lived climate pollutants. Knowing what materials comprise your waste stream will help you establish the right mix of waste diversion and energy programs to make your community more sustainable. This webinar will provide information on how to conduct a waste characterization study, what data you can expect to obtain from a study, and how it can be used to make solid waste program and policy decisions. The webinar will be led by Brent Dieleman of SCS Engineers, on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 
LISTEN HERE

World Asthma Day
Organizer: Global Initiative for Asthma
Date: 1 May 2018
World Asthma Day is focused on raising asthma awareness around the world. Studies have shown that the onset of asthma has been linked with exposure to air pollution. While children and babies are particularly vulnerable, air quality and the incidence of asthma are linked even in adolescence. Climate change may also worsen asthma as warmer days can create more air pollution. Controlling air pollution will help to reduce the onset of early life asthma, one of the many health co-benefits of action to reduce air pollution. 
MORE INFORMATION

FEATURED INITIATIVE

Unmask My City is a global initiative by doctors and other health professionals dedicated to improving air quality and reducing emissions in our cities. It was launched on World Asthma Day 2017. 

It is coordinated by the Global Climate and Health Alliance together with the Health and Environment Alliance, Health Care Without Harm, the US Climate and Health Alliance, and the UK Health Alliance for Climate Change, and aims to promote practical solutions and create tangible local and national policy changes to drive a clear, downward global trend in urban air pollution by 2030.

See their latest newsletter here
Copyright © 2018 BreatheLife, All rights reserved.

 

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