CARTAGENA, Colombia – A small group of climate pollutants– including the air pollutants black carbon, methane, and ozone – are responsible for nearly half of global temperature increases to date.  Reducing these emissions, which only remain in the atmosphere for a few weeks to decades, could serve as the “emergency brake” critical to halting runaway […] Continue reading ->
The US Environmental Protection Agency announced it would seek to roll back 31 climate, air and water pollution, and emissions regulations, declaring this is the “biggest deregulatory action” in US history. Leading environmental health voices say that rolling back pollution and climate regulations will inextricably harm the public’s health, though the Trump administration asserts that […] Continue reading ->
A four-year, multi-country trial measuring health impacts of reduced indoor air pollution due to the shifting of households from biomass to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) has yielded  mixed results – defying expectations that reduced indoor air pollution would yield significant health benefits. The study of 3,200 households in four Asian, African and Latin America countries […] Continue reading ->
Chad and Bangladesh  ranked as the most polluted countries in 2024, while Delhi, India was the most polluted capital city, according to the 2024 World Air Quality report produced by the Swiss-based IQAir.  But only seven countries worldwide met WHO air quality guidelines and Africa’s pollution levels remains under-reported. Pollution monitoring also fell victim to […] Continue reading ->
WHO Member States appeared to give strong backing to a proposed new WHO roadmap to reduce air pollution’s health impacts – with the ambitious global goal of cutting mortality attributable to human-produced sources by 50% by 2040.  At the same time, a draft Climate Change and Health Action Plan, also aired at Saturday’s WHO Executive […] Continue reading ->
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania – African leaders and global financial institutions have launched a landmark $40 billion Africa Energy Fund to fast-track investments in renewable energy and bridge the continent’s persistent financing gap.  Reliance on dirty cooking fuels such as firewood and charcoal causes an estimated 600,000 premature deaths annually across Africa. The World Bank […] Continue reading ->