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STORY: GENEVA / AIR POLLUTION ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
TRT: 3:08
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 29 OCTOBER 2018 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Exterior, Palais des Nations
2. SOUNDBITE (English) –Dr. Johan Kuylenstierna, Policy Director, Stockholm Environment Institute:
“If these 25 measures are all implemented, then we can have a big reduction in the impact of small particles on the human health leading to between 700, 000 or 800, 000 fewer deaths, an increase in the number of people experiencing clean air in Asia from about a third of a billion to a billion people”.
3. Close up, hands
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Johan Kuylenstierna, Policy Director, Stockholm Environment Institute:
“At the same time reducing the impact on climate change, by halving the rate of warming that is caused to the globe and at the same time reducing the impact of ozone pollution on crop yields by about 45 %”.
5. Close up, eyes
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Johan Kuylenstierna, Policy Director, Stockholm Environment Institute:
“If we take the World Health Organisation guideline of 10 micrograms meter cube of small particles (PM2.5) only 8 % of the population of Asia currently is breathing that clean air, so 92% are breathing higher than this which is damaging”.
7. Wide shot, press conference
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Johan Kuylenstierna, Policy Director, Stockholm Environment Institute:
“So air pollution is really high, especially in some parts of Asia is very high and having a big impact on human health”.
9. Wide shot, press conference
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Johan Kuylenstierna, Policy Director, Stockholm Environment Institute:
“If we implement clean cooking solutions going to modern fuels like electricity or LPG (Liquefied petroleum gas) gas, then we could reduce the number of premature deaths by 2 million a year if it is all implemented by 2030. In addition, we are talking about 800,000 to 900, 000 reduced premature deaths from exposure to outdoor pollution particular matter”.
11. Wide shot, journalists
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Johan Kuylenstierna, Policy Director, Stockholm Environment Institute:
“Rather than using coal to produce electricity and then having to put a filter on the end, it is more shifting towards renewable energy and then rather than having a Euro 6 car based on petrol or diesel than you move to electric cars”.
13. Wide shot, press conference
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Johan Kuylenstierna, Policy Director, Stockholm Environment Institute:
“So this third group which includes public transport is more measures which give a multiple development benefits, but also improves air quality and significantly reduces climate change”.
15. Close up, cameraman
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Johan Kuylenstierna, Policy Director, Stockholm Environment Institute:
“There is a desire across the whole region to tackle this problem, and then hopefully the report that we have done will help improve those measures which can implement these different activities to reduce pollution”.
17. Close up journalist
18. Close up, journalist
19. Med shot, journalists
A new report titled “Air Pollution in Asia and the Pacific: Science-based Solutions” launched Monday by the UN Environment in Geneva outlines 25 air pollution measures that can save millions of lives and slow down climate change.
“If these 25 measures are all implemented, then we can have a big reduction in the impact of small particles on the human health leading to between 700, 000 or 800, 000 fewer deaths, an increase in the number of people experiencing clean air in Asia from about a third of a billion to a billion people”, the co-author of the report Dr. Johan Kuylenstierna, Policy Director at the Stockholm Environment Institute, told reporters in Geneva. He added that these measures would be “reducing the impact on climate change by halving the rate of warming that is caused to the globe, and at the same time reducing the impact of ozone pollution on crop yields by about 45 per cent”.
Currently about four billion people, and 92 per cent of Asia and Pacific’s population, are exposed to levels of air pollution that pose a significant risk to their health. “Air pollution is really high, especially in some parts of Asia, is very high and having a big impact on human health,” Dr. Kuylenstierna said. “If we take the World Health Organisation guideline of 10 micrograms meter cube of small particles (PM2.5), only 8 per cent of the population of Asia currently is breathing that clean air, so 92 per cent are breathing higher than this which is damaging, ” he added.
Approximately seven million people worldwide die prematurely each year from air pollution related diseases, with about 4 million of these deaths occurring in Asia-Pacific. The reductions in outdoor air pollution from the 25 measures could reduce premature mortality in the region by one third, and help avoid about 2 million premature deaths from indoor air pollution.
“If we implement clean cooking solutions going to modern fuels like electricity or LPG gas (liquefied petroleum gas), then we could reduce the number of premature deaths by 2 million a year if it is all implemented by 2030,” Dr. Kuylenstierna said. “In addition, we are talking about 800,000 to 900, 000 reduced premature deaths from exposure to outdoor pollution particular matter”.
World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates show that air pollution is responsible for one-quarter to one-third of deaths from heart attack, stroke, lung cancer and chronic respiratory disease. The WHO says that as many as nine in 10 people globally are breathing polluted, toxic air.
The 25 policy and technological measures introduced in the UN report are divided into three different groups: the first one focusing on emissions that lead to the formation of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), including activities like increased emissions standards of power plants, large- and small-scale industry.
The second group includes the reduction of the burning of agricultural and municipal solid waste, preventing forest and peatland fires. Dr. Kuylenstierna said that that the third group, which includes public transport, “provides more measures which give a multiple development benefits, but also improves air quality and significantly reduces climate change”.
“Rather than using coal to produce electricity and then having to put a filter on the end, it is more shifting towards renewable energy -- and then rather than having a ‘Euro 6’ car based on petrol or diesel then you move to electric cars,” Dr. Kuylenstierna said. Euro 6 refers to the latest European Union standard to reduce harmful pollutants from vehicle exhausts, introduced in September 2015. The aim of Euro 6 is to reduce levels of harmful car and van exhaust emissions, both in petrol and diesel cars.
The 25 clean air measures of the report are not equally appropriate for every part of Asia-Pacific: the region’s diversity means the measures must be tailored, prioritized and implemented according to the national conditions, according to the report.
“There is a desire across the whole region to tackle this problem, and then hopefully the report that we have done will help improve those measures which can implement these different activities to reduce pollution”, Dr. Kuylenstierna said.
The report - the first comprehensive scientific assessment of the air pollution outlook in Asia and Pacific – is a collaboration between the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment), the Asia Pacific Clean Air Partnership (APCAP), and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) and was launched at the World Health Organisation’s first Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health.
