Press: Addressing air pollution to tackle public health and climate change

News | Posted on Friday 4 September 2020

SEI provides policy advice and measures for addressing air pollution, health and climate change mitigation on the first UN International Day of Clean Air for blue skies.

stevepb / pixabay.

As the world looks at how to recover from COVID-19, there is a unique opportunity to ‘build back better’ by addressing air pollution, alongside climate, health and development priorities. How can the world build back the economy in the most resilient way?

A webinar on 7 September explores integrated strategies that achieve clean air, benefit human health, contribute to addressing climate change and make progress towards multiple Sustainable Development Goals. A new policy brief ‘Air pollution and its impact on human health: an important driver for achieving the 1.5°C goal of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’, will be launched at the webinar.

Air pollution is the world’s largest environmental health risk, contributing to 7 million premature deaths per year, according to the World Health Organization. The health impact of air pollution most heavily affects urban and low-income communities.

SEI research has highlighted the main impacts of air pollution on health, showing that small particulate matter can be related to millions of asthma-related visits to hospital each year globally, and over two million pre-term births, which can have life-long health implications for survivors.

To reduce the health impacts from air pollution, SEI’s Low Emissions Analysis Platform and Integrated Benefits Calculator (LEAP-IBC) can help plan coherent emission reduction strategies with health benefits.

See more on the SEI website

For all media enquiries please contact:

Frances Dixon
frances.dixon@york.ac.uk
+44 (0) 7859147820
@fdisxonSEI

For all media enquiries please contact:

Frances Dixon

Frances Dixon

Communication Specialist

frances.dixon@york.ac.uk
+44 (0) 7859147820
fdisxonSEI

For all media enquiries please contact:

Frances Dixon
frances.dixon@york.ac.uk
+44 (0) 7859147820
@fdisxonSEI