After years of stonewalling, the city is finally acknowledging the public health risks of air pollution – launching a major initiative to clean up emissions from the capital’s 10 million vehicles, along with stricter curbs on waste, construction and traffic during winter-time pollution peaks. The most radical measures include: banning new fossil fuel–powered 2 & […] Continue reading ->
In 1994, Manvati Nag, an indigenous woman from Bijapur district in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, married and moved to Halbaras village in the forested Dantewada region about 80 kilometres away. Although the move was relatively short, it dramatically altered her health. Before moving, Nag never got sick. But after her move, she started […] Continue reading ->
LONDON – “Cleaner air is possible when there’s political will,” said Cecilia Vaca Jones, executive director of Breathe Cities, told a panel during London Climate Action Week. Britain’s capital is the poster child for that statement. In 2019, less than a decade after more stringent national air quality targets were first introduced, some experts estimated […] Continue reading ->
Decades of environmental policies, advances in technology, and cleaner approaches to industry and transportation in Europe have paid off, resulting in a steady decrease in the emission of major air pollutants. Despite the challenge of wildfires, Europe’s air quality improved in 2025, according to the latest data released by Copernicus, the European Union’s (EU) Earth […] Continue reading ->
As Europe sweats through the hottest week on record for June, the continent faces the looming spectre of wildfires – just one year after last year’s deadly events in Turkiye and Southern Europe. But wildfire season is no longer episodic. It has evolved into a year-long threat, fueled by a warmer climate and its side […] Continue reading ->
A landmark UNICEF report that maps children’s exposure to overlapping climate hazards finds that almost half the world’s children – 1.1 billion kids – now contend with at least three threats at once. To reach school each morning, 15-year-old Lorna first has to swim across the Kemp Welch River, known to locals for its strong […] Continue reading ->
Home to 1 in 4 people globally, the region should brace for “multi-hazards” and poor air quality apart from heat and water stress, according to a new report. The authors called on countries in the fractious neighbourhood to cooperate on data and form common solutions. The monsoon season this year is likely to bring more […] Continue reading ->
The growing impact of climate change on respiratory health, including through longer pollen seasons, wildfires and more exterme heat, was the focus of an high-level event on the margins of the 79th World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, organized by the Geneva Health Forum and Health Diplomacy Alliance. The event followed on the heels of a […] Continue reading ->
While the health harms of biomass cookstoves, and the smoke they produce inside the homes of developing countries has received significant attention in the past two decades, a wide range of chemical and pathogenic air pollutants create hazards in modern homes and buildings – also threatening health. Investments in ventilation, air filtration, monitoring, and clean […] Continue reading ->
The first international conference on phasing out the oil, gas and coal igniting the climate crisis ended with 57 governments representing every continent and a third of the global economy declaring the transition away from fossil fuels is now irreversible. “Actions taken to date prove that the energy transition is past its point of no […] Continue reading ->