Ethiopia is leading the way on active mobility in Africa. While walking and biking improve human and planetary health, there are challenges such as poor safety.

A UNEP article explores the benefits of active mobility, in Ethiopia and further afield, and the steps being taken to make it safer.

Read the full article here.

An event, to be held at the Ozone Bioindicator Gardens, near Washington D.C, will mark International Day of Clean Air for blue skies .

The event will underscore the importance of understanding the impact of air pollution on human and ecosystem health and will feature speakers from UNEP, NASA and the Smithsonian.

The event will be held between 16:00 and 18:00 on 7 September. More information can be found here. Register here.

The WHO will be hosting New opportunities for air pollution and health education , an online webinar to help healthcare workers.

The webinar will launch the Open WHO course on air pollution and health, showcase key initiatives aimed at raising awareness around air pollution and preview the upcoming Air Pollution and Health Training toolkit for health workers .

To join the webinar, which will be held 5 September between 13:00 and 14:15 CEST, register here .

Following on from the Africa Climate Summit and Africa Climate Week an event will be held in Nairobi on 7 September to celebrate International Day of Clean Air for blue skies.

The event- which will be attended by the Governor of Nairobi City County H.E. Sakaja Arthur Johnson- will see the unveiling of a new mural highlighting the importance of clean transportation and better air quality for children’s health.

For more information on how you can join in person or live online, visit here .

The World Bank will be streaming an event to mark International Day of Clean Air for blue skies.

#EndAirPollution: For Blue Skies and Better Health in South Asia will look at the impact of air pollution in the region and will explore solutions to the problem.

With two million premature deaths annually South Asia faces one of the heaviest tolls from air pollution.

Shunichi Honda, an expert from UNEP’s International Environment Technology Centre , answers questions on waste and how its correct management can help combat air pollution.

You can read his expert opinion here.

A two-day international forum will be held in Beijing ahead of the International Day of Clean Air for blue skies.

The 2023 Beijing International Forum for Metropolitan Clean Air and Climate Actions forum, held on 5 and 6 September at CIFTIS, will have the theme “Innovation-Driven Carbon Emission and Pollution Reduction.”

For more information visit the forum website here.

New data from the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) shows that while particulate air pollution remains the world’s greatest external risk to human health, its impact on global life expectancy is uneven.

“Three-quarters of air pollution’s impact on global life expectancy occurs in just six countries, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Nigeria and Indonesia, where people lose one to more than six years off their lives because of the air they breathe,” says Michael Greenstone, the Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics and one of the creators of the AQLI.

The AQLI also found that countries most impacted by air pollution lack the tools to improve air quality.

An event, to mark International Day of Clean Air for blue skies , will be held at the UN headquarters in New York on 7 September between 10:30 and 10:30am EDT.

More information on the event can be found here.

Academic institutions, governments and civil society organizations doing citizen science in the Americas are being asked to make air quality measurements on International Day of Clean Air for blue skies to raise awareness on air pollution.

UNEP hopes to use the activation, on 7 September, to highlight the damage fine particles in the air can do to human health.

If you are in Canada, Costa Rica, Colombia, Chile, Panama, Mexico or the United States and would like to get involved please visit this page for more information.