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On September 7, the UN marked the third International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies. However, the skies are far from clear of air pollution. Only a month ago, the World Health Organization () warned that practically all the air we breathe is polluted, and that it’s killing around seven million people every year.

Conor Lennon from UN News spoke to Martina Otto and Nathan Borgford-Parnell from the , which is hosted by the UN Environment Programme (). They discussed the evolving science surrounding the issue, the extent to which air pollution is improving – if at all – and why international collaboration is essential, if the number of annual deaths is to be addressed.

Music: Ketsa, Within the Earth
Audio Credit: UN News/ Conor Lennon
Photo Credit: Unsplash/Malcolm Lightbody

99% of our world is exposed to polluted air causing an estimated 7 million premature deaths every year. This International Day of Clean Air for blue skies, calls on governments, corporations, civil society, and individuals to take action to reduce air pollution and bring a transformative change for the air we share. .

Plastics are here to stay. They are easy and inexpensive to make and have been a significant driver for development. But plastic waste has become an omnipresent threat - with public health, livelihoods and the environment all suffering. Plastic can take hundreds of thousands of years to decompose. The World Bank is committed to tackling plastic pollution, recognizing it as a key element in alleviating extreme poverty. Today the supports efforts in more than 50 countries around the globe and at every stage of the plastic lifecycle.

Moored off Yemen’s Red Sea coast, the FSO Safer is an aging supertanker in advanced state of decay that will soon break apart or explode if the world does not act.  The United Nations is ready to implement an emergency operation to prevent this disaster. But the work to transfer the oil to a safe vessel is already delayed because of insufficient funding. To bridge the funding gap and start the emergency operation, the United Nations is asking for contributions from members of the public.

175 nations endorsed a historic resolution at the in Nairobi to End Plastic Pollution and forge an international legally binding agreement by 2024. Plastic production has risen exponentially in the last decades and now amounts to some – a figure set to double by 2040. The resolution addresses the full lifecycle of plastic, including its production, design, and disposal.

Only three per cent of Latin America’s e-waste is reported as collected through formal channels and treated in an environmentally sound manner, according to the .

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will send experts and sophisticated monitoring equipment to help Peru assess and limit the environmental damage from a major oil spill in its coastal waters.

Discarded plastic in the ocean has garnered a lot of media attention, but terrestrial microplastic pollution is much higher than marine microplastic pollution.

brings us the murky truth about plastic in the ocean: Every minute, one garbage truck of plastic is dumped into our ocean. Join 113,637 other people and take the Clean Sean Pledge.

Even the planet's most remote and inaccessible environments, such as the Mariana trench and Mount Everest, contain tiny pieces of plastic from human activities miles away. Plastics are the largest, most harmful, and persistent fraction of marine litter, accounting for at least 85 per cent of total marine waste. ’s global assessment: shows that there is a growing threat in all ecosystems from source to sea. Without urgent action, the estimated 11 million metric tons of plastic currently entering the ocean annually will triple in the next twenty years.

Residents of the Hlaing Thar Yar township and surrounding areas hope a solid waste management project will prevent deadly fires by lower methane emissions.

The first presents the findings of a study of air quality legislation in more than 194 countries. Using the developed by , the report examines the legal measures for determining whether air quality standards are being met and what legal standards exist for failure to meet them. The Assessment provides recommendations to assist countries in strengthening air quality governance and serves as a resource for countries wishing to effectively address air pollution and contribute to the achievement of the SDGs.

celebrates the anniversary of 132 parties working together to disrupt the trade, raise public awareness, build institutional capacity, and create mercury-free products.

Plastic is Forever

Every year, the toxic trail of economic growth – pollution and waste – results in the premature deaths of millions of people while doing untold damage to the planet. Plastic poses a big problem from source extraction to waste. Not only to the environment, but also to human beings and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Would you like to know how? supports strong laws and institutions for a healthy planet and healthy people.