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Nine out of 10 people globally breathe polluted air, causing about 7 million premature deaths every year. On 7 September 2020, the United Nations observed the first International Day of Clean Air for blue skies. This article is part of UNEP’s continuing coverage of air pollution and its impact globally.
In Chiang Rai, Thailand, a city perched on the banks of the Mekong River, a group of some 90 residents and university students came together to pick up trash on 19 September.
Like millions of others, they were marking World Cleanup Day, an annual event that encourages communities to tidy up litter from rivers, beaches, cities and even the seafloor.
Nairobi, 16 October 2020 – More than 400 young Africans were today honoured for their leadership in addressing plastic pollution in their communities as part of the Tide Turners Plastic Challenge. At a high-level event, political leaders, senior UN officials and Grammy-nominated Ghanaian musician Rocky Dawuni lauded the leadership shown by young people in global efforts to fight plastic pollution.
Looking for easy and simple ways to make high-impact, achievable steps to reduce your carbon pollution and persuade others to do the same? Here are 16 actions:
UNEP’s novel ‘World Environment Situation Room’ provides real-time data on PM2.5 levels across the planet, informing scientists, policy-makers and citizens alike.
Prince William launched a new global award for the environment today designed to help address some of the planet’s most pressing challenges, from pollution to climate change. The Earthshot Prize will provide over £50 million to support ground-breaking solutions to environmental problems over the next 10 years – a critical decade for the Earth, say experts.
Approximately one-third of all food produced for human consumption gets lost or wasted – around 1.3 billion tonnes every year. This amounts to roughly US$680 billion in developed countries and US$310 billion in developing countries, with a carbon footprint of about 3.3 billion tonnes of CO2, which is equivalent to 8 per cent of global greenhouse emissions.
Food loss and waste generate an estimated 8 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions while using land and water resources needlessly and increasing pressure on biodiversity. Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 calls for a halving of food waste at retail and household level, and a reduction of food loss across the supply chain.
Rome/Nairobi/New York , 29 September 2020 – At the global event marking today the first International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and their partners urged everyone to do
An estimated one-third of food produced globally is lost or wasted from farm to table. This is about 1.3 billion tonnes of food – an amount that would occupy more land surface area than China and India combined. Instead of feeding people, it affects ecosystems and biodiversity, generating eight per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Across Myanmar, artisanal miners hunt for gold flecks in rivers and pit mines. The work is physically taxing and the income meagre. For many, the sprinkling of particles they find will only offer a few extra dollars of daily income.
COVID-19 has exposed how the degradation of ecosystems is not only undermining Earth’s life-supporting systems, including the regulation of disease but also leaving our societies and economies tremendously vulnerable to sudden shocks.
Early last year a dhow – a traditional East African sailing vessel – travelled over 500km south down the coasts of Kenya and Tanzania, calling in at nearly a half-dozen ports along the way.
It’s a trip made by many boats. However, the Flipflopi was a dhow with a difference. Rather than the traditional wooden construction, the 10-metre, seven-tonne vessel was made entirely from waste plastic collected on Kenya’s beaches.
The Flipflopi, the world’s first sailing boat (dhow) made entirely from plastic waste collected from towns and beaches in Kenya, is headed to Lake Victoria to raise awareness of the pollution plaguing the region’s most critical freshwater ecosystem
Along with the initiative is a petition calling on all East African Community Member States to reach a regional consensus on banning non-essential single-use plastics
The boat
Every 16 September, World Ozone Day reminds us of the need to protect the ozone – a thin, protective layer of gas that absorbs most of the sun's harmful ultraviolet light. In doing so, the ozone layer helps protect humans from skin cancer and cataracts, and shields plants, crops and ecosystems from damage. The year 2020 marks more than three decades of global efforts to conserve and restore the ozone – which have paid off.
Many people think the area around the Chernobyl nuclear plant is a place of post-apocalyptic desolation. But more than 30 years after one of the facility’s reactors exploded, sparking the worst nuclear accident in human history, science tells us something very different.
16 September is World Ozone Day. Thanks to international cooperation, this year we celebrate 35 years of the Vienna Convention and 35 years of global ozone layer protection.
16 September is World Ozone Day. The theme for 2020 is Ozone for life: 35 years of ozone layer protection. It marks 35 years of the Vienna Convention.
10 September 2020: The ongoing wildfires in on the west coast of the United States have focused media attention on wildfires more generally and their link to biodiversity and habitat loss, as well as global heating.
We take a look at the some of the different types of wildfires, assess their impact and what is causing them, and why accurate, real-time data is so important for wise action to curb them.
September 7, 2020 marks the world's first International Day of Clean Air for blue skies – whose observance is facilitated by the UN Environment Progamme (UNEP). Each year, this day will raise public awareness on air pollution and encourage actions to improve air quality. The Republic of Korea led global efforts to create this occasion.
The Share the Road Programme supports governments and other stakeholders in developing countries to move towards investing in infrastructure for those who walk and cycle.
Every year, the world generates more than two billion tonnes of trash. Even against the backdrop of a global pandemic, there is much being bought and sold, things are used and discarded.
On 7 September 2020, for the first time ever, the world will join together to mark the UN's International Day of Clean Air for blue skies. The theme for 2020 is "Clean Air for All".
Nairobi, 7 September 2020 - With extreme air pollution events on the rise, global efforts to reduce pollution and its effects will receive an advocacy boost when, for the first time ever, the world marks the International Day of Clean Air for blue skies on 7 September.
In 2019, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) made recommendations for Kazakhstan to improve how it raises awareness on air pollution and alerts the public of high pollution levels, including by involving citizen science. Since, 50 LED screens have lit up across Almaty, displaying air quality data drawing from citizens.
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