The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News , Press Conferences | WMO
WMO Press conference: Air Quality and Climate Bulletin - 05 September 2024
We must do more to keep the air we breathe clean: UN weather agency
Unchecked climate change, wildfires and air pollution continue to have “a spiralling, negative impact on health, ecosystems and agriculture”, with millions of deaths attributed to dirty air, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
“Almost everybody on Earth, basically nine out of 10 people breathe air that is essentially unfit for purpose,” said Lorenzo Labrador, Scientific Officer at WMO. “This means that it is air that exceeds the [UN World Health Organization] WHO guideline limits and contains a high level of pollutants with low and middle-income countries basically being the most affected.”
Heat driver
That stark finding is just one of many unsettling discoveries featuring in the latest WMO Air Quality and Climate Bulletin. It highlights, for instance, that the first eight months of 2024 have seen no let-up in periods of intense heat and persistent droughts around the world, fuelling the risk of wildfires and air pollution.
“Climate change means that we face this scenario with increasing frequency. Interdisciplinary science and research is key to finding solutions,” the UN agency warned.
The clear link between polluted air and poor health is clear, according to the WHO, which has urged global action to counter “one of the greatest environmental risks to health” and numerous preventable illnesses including stroke, heart disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory diseases, including asthma.
“Ambient air pollution alone mostly coming from vehicles and industry causes more than 4.5 million premature deaths a year,” WMO’s Mr. Labrador told journalists in Geneva.
“This is more than those death by malaria and HIV AIDS combined; so air pollution is the biggest environmental risk of our time. But not only is it a health risk in itself, it also exacerbates climate change.”
Regional trends
A snapshot of regional emissions variations featured in the UN agency report indicated a trend for “lower pollution in Europe and China” than North America and India, where there was an increase in pollution emissions from human and industrial activities.
This is likely the “direct result of a reduction in emissions in those countries over the years, and we have been noticing this tendency since we started publishing the bulletin back in 2021.”
And while it is generally widely understood that polluted air containing microscopic particulates - including sulphates, nitrates, ammonia, soot from human activity and wildfires - is harmful, Mr. Labrador reiterated the UN agency’s 2023 findings that these and other pollutants have a damaging impact on food security, too.
Crop yields down
“Particulate matter can severely affect the productivity of crops - of staple crops - such as maize, rice and wheat,” he said. “Many of this particulate matter pollution that affect crop yields are due to man-made practices, which include the land use practices such as tillage and harvesting. Also, application of fertilizers and stubble-burning at the end the season, of the growing seasons.”
New data-crunching on naturally occurring wildfires around the world last year also indicated that the inferno that spread across Canada in 2023 “was even stronger with respect to emissions” than the 2021 wildfire season in Siberia – although that was “very, very strong”, the WMO officer insisted.
“[The Canada fires] broke records concerning the amount of surface area burned over a 20-year period.”
To coincide with this year’s Clean Air for Blue Skies Day on Saturday 7 September, the UN agency urged governments to protect health, the environment and the economy, given the cost ramifications of the air pollution.
“The first thing that cities have to do is to recognize that the problem exists in the first place,” Mr. Labrador said. “So, those cities and those countries have to acknowledge first that there is an air quality problem and there is sufficient data around the world to basically acknowledge that it is a worldwide problem, particularly in urban areas.”
Story: WMO Press conference: Air Quality and Climate Bulletin
TRT: 03’08”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 05 September 2024 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
SHOTLIST
- Exterior medium shot: UN flag alley.
- Wide shot of the podium at the press conference room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Lorenzo Labrador, Scientific Officer, WMO: “Almost everybody on Earth, basically nine out of 10 people breathe air that is essentially unfit for purpose. This means that it is air that exceeds the WHO guideline limits and contains a high level of pollutants with low and middle-income countries basically being the most affected.”
- Medium-wide, podium speakers and Press room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Lorenzo Labrador, Scientific Officer, WMO: “Ambient air pollution alone mostly coming from vehicles and industry causes more than 4.5 million premature deaths a year. Just for context, this is more than those death by malaria and HIV AIDS combined; so air pollution is the biggest environmental risk of our time. But not only is it a health risk in itself, it also exacerbates climate change.”
- Medium, podium speakers from above, TV screens showing speakers in Press room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Lorenzo Labrador, Scientific Officer, WMO: “We tend to believe that the lower pollution in Europe and China are the direct result of a reduction in emissions in those countries over the years, and we have been noticing this tendency since we started publishing the bulletin back in 2021. So, we can say that we are starting to see a tendency in that regard.”
- Medium-wide, podium speakers and Press room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Lorenzo Labrador, Scientific Officer, WMO: “Whereas particulate matter is responsible for about eight million premature death a year worldwide, you would not find surprising that the focus is usually on the effects of particular matter on health. However, a 2023 World Meteorological Organization report pointed out that particulate matter can severely affect the productivity of crops - of staple crops - such as maize, rice and wheat.
- Medium-close, TV screen showing Mr. Labrador.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Lorenzo Labrador, Scientific Officer, WMO: “Many of this particulate matter pollution that affect crop yields are due to man-made practices, which include the land use practices such as tillage and harvesting. Also, application of fertilizers and stubble-burning at the end the season, of the growing seasons.”
- Medium, speaker’s hands on desk and screen.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Lorenzo Labrador, Scientific Officer, WMO: “We reported back in 2022 about the 2021 wildfire season in Siberia, which was very, very strong. But there are indications that the wildfire that we had in Canada last year was even stronger with respect to emissions. It broke records concerning the amount of surface area burned over a 20-year period in Canada.”
- Medium-wide, raised shot of podium speakers and Press room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Lorenzo Labrador, Scientific Officer, WMO: “The first thing that cities have to do is to recognize that the problem exists in the first place. So, those cities and those countries have to acknowledge first that there is an air quality problem and there is sufficient data around the world to basically acknowledge that it is a worldwide problem, particularly in urban areas.”
- Wide, podium and speakers with UN logo providing backdrop.
- Medium, journalist.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , UNOG
Over 11.6 million refugees risk losing aid access due to funding cuts, says UNHCR
Approximately one in three refugees and other vulnerable individuals normally supported by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) are expected to lose out from funding cuts, it said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, made the following announcement on the Office’s opening of a new mission in Bangladesh.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
“The surge in the number of Afghans forced or compelled to return to Afghanistan this year is creating a multi-layered human rights crisis requiring the urgent attention of the international community,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday called for accountability and justice for the killings and other gross human rights violations and abuses in the southern city of Suweida.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNHCR
Syria: hundreds killed in Sweida, ‘widespread’ violations as civilians flee for their lives
Amid violent clashes in southern Syria’s Sweida governorate, a picture of grave human rights abuses and rising humanitarian needs is emerging by the hour, the UN said on Friday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNHCR , OHCHR
Rolando Gómez of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, attended by spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva the UN Human Rights Spokesperson Liz Throssell made the following statement on the latest number of civilian casualties in Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office on Tuesday called for investigations into hundreds of killings of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank by Israeli security forces and settlers, warning against ongoing forced mass displacement of the Palestinian population.
1
1
2
Edited News | OHCHR , UNRWA
Nearly 900 people have been killed in Gaza in recent weeks trying to fetch food, with most deaths linked to private aid hubs run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNOG , UNRWA , OHCHR , WHO
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, and the World Health Organization.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the UN Human Rights Office have today released a report detailing the evolution of violent gang incidents beyond the capital Port-au-Prince since October 2024 up to June 2025, and the resulting loss of life and mass displacement.
1
1
1
Statements , Press Conferences | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani at the Geneva press briefing in response to questions about US sanctions imposed on UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese.