Hero picture
news

International Day of Clean Air for blue skies

07/09/2022
  • Global
  • Advocacy
  • Climate
  • Pollution
Clean air, a universal right

Under the theme The Air We Share, 7 September 2022 marks the third International Day of Clean Air for blue skies. The day aims to raise awareness and facilitate actions to improve air quality.

Each year 7 million people die prematurely due to air pollution and 99% of the world’s population breathes polluted air. It is the largest contributor to the burden of disease from the environment, and is one of the main avoidable causes of death and disease globally.

Air pollutants also cause global warming. And when people are exposed to both air pollution as well as extreme heat, their risk of death is some 20 percent higher.

How public transport helps improve ‘the air we share’

Public transport can help improve air quality. Travel by bus is twice as efficient and by rail four times more efficient than private vehicles. Every kilometre travelled on public transport saves 95 grams of GHG emissions and 19 grams of NOx compared to motorised private transport.

A diesel bus with the most stringent emissions standard emits 99% fewer fine inhalable particles (PM2.5) and 10 times less NOx per passenger kilometre than an equivalent diesel car. The good news is that electric buses will reduce pollutant emissions even further and become increasingly zero-emission, which will further improve air quality in cities.

By improving walking and cycling facilities, and integrating them with quality public transport systems; air quality, noise, physical activity and mental health can be improved.

We need to move away form transport based on individual motorised transport

Moving forward for clean skies and healthy cities

The effect of air pollution is strongest in middle and lower income countries. In July this year, the United Nations recognised the universal right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, making clean air a human right.

Air pollution knows no national borders and is all pervasive. Moreover, it is strongly correlated to other global crisis such as climate change, biodiversity loss, other forms of pollution, social and gender parity as well as economic development.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres: “We know what to do: invest in renewable energy and swiftly transition away from fossil fuels; rapidly move to zero-emission vehicles and alternative modes of transport; increase access to clean cooking, heating and cooling; recycle waste instead of burning it.”

Expanding public transport and its use, while unleashing the potential of technological innovations, will help bring down congestion, emissions, air pollution and road traffic incidents. The resulting health benefits, and cleaner air, benefit everyone.

Find out more about the International Day of Clean Air for blue skies by visiting cleanairblueskies.org.

And if you want to discover the other benefits public transport brings, like economic growth and active lifestyles, visit the public transport benefits website.

Discover our
Membership benefits
This website uses cookies

This website uses third-party website tracking technologies to give you the best experience, help us understand and continually improve how the site works, and to display advertisements according to users' interests. You consent to the use of our cookies by continuing to browse this website.

Cookies page
  • Essentials Essentials

    Those cookies are essentials to the functioning of the site and cannot be disabled in our systems. They are generally set as a response to actions you take that constitute a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in, or filling out forms. You can set your browser to block or be notified of these cookies, but some parts of the website may be affected. These cookies do not store any personally identifying information.

    cloudflare

    Cloudflare uses various cookies to maximize network resources, manage traffic, and protect our customers’ sites from malicious traffic.

    epic-cookie-prefs

    Cookie that remembers the user’s cookie settings preferences. It allows to avoid asking the user about their preferences each time they visit the website.

  • Performance

    This Google Analytics cookie is used to persist session state. Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic anonymously.

    _ga

    This Google Analytics cookie is created when you first visit our site. It contains the version of Google Analytics, a randomly generated ID and a datetime group of your first visit. Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic anonymously.

    _ga_(STREAM ID)

    This Google Analytics cookie is used to persist session state. Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic anonymously.

This website uses cookies

We use cookies and similar techonologies to adjust your preferences, analyze traffic and measure the effectiveness of campaigns. You consent to the use of our cookies by continuing to browse this website.