Mitigating climate change requires leadership in managing
urban air quality – the Commonwealth is positioned to do just that!
The links between emissions
from transport (road, shipping and aviation), biomass and stubble burning, and
agricultural spraying and climate change are clearly established. So too is the
fact that poor urban air quality is a leading cause of respiratory illnesses and
premature deaths, and there is “emerging evidence that it is also associated
with dementia and Type 2 diabetes.” Commonwealth countries have been fighting
back on both of these fronts.
But can the Commonwealth
continue to provide climate leadership through reducing air pollution?
Across
the Commonwealth cities, community governments, municipal corporations, and
enterprises are implementing measures and policies that reduce emissions and
mitigate the harmful effects on human health. In London and other cities in
England low emission and low traffic zones have been established; in Delhi
networks of low cost sensors are being piloted; in Kenya and Nigeria clean
cooking stoves are being deployed; while in some ports in Commonwealth cities,
new regulations requiring ships to burn cleaner fuels while in port are being
considered. The disparate nature of these initiatives lends to the work that is
being done to address air pollution in the Commonwealth being largely
overlooked. To be sure, with the exception of London’s highly lauded low
emission zone, much of the other programs are not widely recognized and for too
many Commonwealth governments, particularly in small islands states, air
pollution is not seen as a ‘priority’. Some small island developing states
(SIDS) including from the Caribbean argue that their focus is climate change,
but this bifurcation between climate change and air pollution weakens SIDS
efforts at mitigating the former and undermines their meeting their Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG) targets. Still, Commonwealth countries are doing
significant things to redress the problem of poor air quality. Amplifying the
impact of these and demonstrating Commonwealth leadership in mitigating climate
change now requires a concerted effort by Commonwealth countries.
The
Ramphal Institute, a Commonwealth organization, has been working to bring
greater awareness to the main causes of air pollution and to the work that is
being undertaken by different actors within the Commonwealth to address the
challenges posed by this, particularly to human health. The report from a first
international conference on air pollution convened by the Institute in London
in September 2018 highlighted the plight of air pollution in urban centers and
the keynote speaker Professor Susan Parnell recommended that the health
implications of air pollution be ‘adopted’ as the apex issue that Commonwealth
countries consider going forward. That report also recommended strongly that
the Commonwealth pursue greater collaboration and partnerships, both
intra-Commonwealth and with external stakeholders, to effectively address the
problem.
The
Ramphal Institute has acted on these recommendations and over the past nine
months has delivered seven webinars on air pollution in Commonwealth countries,
exploring themes ranging from the impact of the COVID pandemic on urban air
quality; to measures for reducing transport related emissions; to curbing
biomass and stubble burning; and up-taking green technologies. The Institute
also commissioned a series of policy briefs addressing these themes in greater
detail. A Second International Conference on Air Pollution is now planned for
30 – 31 March. This free high level virtual event will bring together speakers
from across the Commonwealth including senior policy makers, women and thought
leaders, community and youth activists, business and industry to build
consensus on adopting policies to combat the harmful health effects of air
pollution and to meet the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for clean
air. The event will provide an opportunity for the Commonwealth to display the
considerable convening power of the grouping and to demonstrate climate
leadership through reducing air pollution ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting in June 2021 as well as COP26 in October.
The
event which will be opened by the Rt Hon. Patricia Scotland, QC, Secretary
General of the Commonwealth is already generating significant interest and persons
wishing to attend are asked to register at the following link http://registrations.ficci.com/icpsfc/online-registrationv.asp
The aim
of the Ramphal Institute is to inform and improve public policy making in the
Commonwealth through knowledge exchange, dialogue and understanding, and to act
as a catalyst for improved governance and sustainable development. For more
information on the work of the Institute please visit our website at www.ramphalinstitute.org
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