29 January, 2025
“Air pollution is a global health emergency”
The European Respiratory Society (ERS) is encouraging respiratory professionals, including its members, to play their part in cutting air pollution levels by signing an online World Health Organization (WHO) call to action which aims to ensure safe, clean air for all.
ERS has joined with the WHO and other partners from the health community to urge immediate action on pollution to improve air quality and protect vulnerable individuals such as children, older people and those with existing respiratory conditions.
Health professionals can add their voice to the call by signing the call to action online.
Air pollution is responsible for more than seven million preventable deaths globally each year – the vast majority of which are due to noncommunicable diseases including respiratory illnesses and lung cancer. Together, the organisations call for urgent action from governments, policymakers, donors and the private sector to ensure clean, safe air for all.
This bold action must include:
- Swiftly achieve the full implementation of WHO global air quality guidelines – cutting emissions at source and enforcing robust measures to stop air pollution
- Strengthen actions for clean air – including improved monitoring and surveillance
- Increase domestic and international funding to elevate clean air as a global health priority
- Focus on awareness raising, training, research and sharing best public health practices – particularly in countries most affected by air pollution – building intersectoral workforces with the skills and capacity to design and implement policies to tackle air pollution
- Ensure a transition to clean energy which is just and fair, phasing out fossil fuels in an equitable manner
The cost of inaction on air pollution also amounts to $8.1 trillion annually. Despite this, less than 1% of global development aid is invested in improving air quality in low- to middle-income countries – where investment is needed most.
The call for action comes in the build-up to the WHO’s Second Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health, which will take place in Cartegena, Colombia, in March 2025.
Prof. Barbara Hoffmann, ERS Advocacy Council Chair, said:
“There is still a huge amount of work to be done to eliminate air pollution, something which is fundamental to protecting health on a global scale.
“In Europe alone, 97% of people breathe unhealthy air – this is unacceptable, especially when you take into account the impact which air pollution has on vulnerable people, and the number of deaths which it contributes to across the world each year – all of which are preventable.
“We need world leaders to take note of this warning and take clear, bold action now.”
Dr Ulrike Gehring, Chair of the ERS Environment and Health Committee, said:
“There is no safe level of air pollution; we must do all we can to protect public health and in particular the health of those who are most vulnerable to the effects of air pollution.
“We must hold governments and decision-makers accountable to swift action. They must follow the science and take significant steps to cut air pollution and with that, alleviate its impact on health and economies worldwide.”