The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development covers 17 goals, the third of which is “good health and well-being”, namely: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being at all ages. (Click here for details)

Under this major goal, there are 13 targets, the ninth of which is “By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination.”

● Current Situation

In the context of sustainable development, poor air quality is a challenge for all countries, especially in urban areas of developing countries, where air pollution is worse than the lowest level set by the WHO air quality guidelines.

About the World

Air Pollution Hazardous to Health

Air pollution is the biggest environmental risk to human health and one of the main causes of preventable global deaths and diseases. In 2016, there were about 6.5 million premature deaths due to indoor and outdoor air pollution. Unclean fuel and cooking methods are the main sources of indoor air pollution. According to the WHO’s data, although more and more clean fuels and new technologies are put into use, the improvement of air pollution in many places has not kept pace with population growth, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. There are still about 40 percent of the global population, i.e. 3 billion people in the world that fail to use clean fuels and cooking methods at home.

Photo source:sohu.com.cn

From the regional situation of global air pollution, Asia and Africa are the main areas followed by the eastern Mediterranean region, Europe and America. According to the WHO’s data, more than 90 percent of deaths related to air pollution occur in the countries with low and middle income.

Text source: WHO website  

About China

Devoting Major Efforts to Improve Air Quality

With the support of national policies, China has made great achievements in air pollution control and prevention. From 2013 to 2017, the Action Plan for Air Pollution Prevention and Control (the "Ten Articles on Atmosphere") helped China achieve significant improvement in air quality. In July 2018, the Chinese government released a new version of air pollution control plan, the Three-year Action Plan to Defense the Blue Sky, for further terminal treatment of air pollution. The new plan has introduced more detailed measures to control the source of pollution, such as promoting the transformation of energy, industrial and traffic structure.

Photo source:ifeng.com

In 2019, China made significant progress in fighting air pollution, with emissions of major pollutants continuing to decline. The average PM2.5 density in 337 cities was 34 micrograms per cubic meter from January to November, representing a decrease of 2.9 percent. 

Text source: cbfau.com

● Cases

About the World

Raise Public Awareness of Air Pollution’s Impact on Health

WHO, in partnership with the Climate and Clean Air Coalition and UN Environment, is leading a global campaign “BreatheLife” to raise public awareness of the impact of air pollution on our health.

The BreatheLife campaign emphasizes practical policies and measures that cities can implement, such as improving housing, transportation, waste disposal and energy systems, stopping waste incineration, promoting green space, walking and cycling, so as to improve the air we breathe. These include raising vehicle standards, giving priority to clean public transport and using more efficient stoves and fuel for cooking, lighting and heating.

Text and photo source: WHO website

About China

Shenzhen Promotes Green and Low Carbon Travel

It has become a major challenge for urban management to deal with the impact of climate change caused by air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. China has to tackle air pollution and carbon emissions at the same time.

Photo source: internet

According to the Environmental Status Bulletin of Shenzhen in 2018, the annual rate of good and excellent air quality was 94.5 percent. The practice of Shenzhen has proved that both environmental and economic achievements can be made by the means of low-carbon transformation. Shenzhen has taken many measures to promote low carbon transformation and industrial upgrade of traditional transportation, including actively promoting new energy vehicles, developing public transportation and rapid transportation. These measures can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and suppress air pollutants with obvious improvement of air quality. The green and low-carbon travel brings the most obvious effects from which people may feel the direct benefits.

Text source: thepaper.cn

● Background

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Initiated by the United Nations

On January 1, 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including 169 targets, of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at an historic UN Summit — officially came into force. Countries will mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, while ensuring that no one is left behind.