Launched in 2019 by the United Nations Environment Program, International Clean Air Day for Blue Skies is celebrated on September 7 and aims to update and raise awareness about the state of the air we breathe around the world.
There is no question that air pollution is the greatest health risk factor today. More than 99 percent of the world's population breathes unsafe air, according to data from the World Health Organization: nearly 7 million people die each year from air pollution-related causes and 2.4 billion are exposed to serious risks for the same reason.
The United Nations Environment Program released this data, along with numerous others that give an idea of the disturbing state of the air: the main causes are biomass- and fossil-fueled residential users (mainly in Europe), transportation, and pollutants generated by industry.
The latter source of pollution is declining compared to past years, thanks to regulations put in place by many countries and the growing awareness of industrialists, who are increasingly taking measures to protect themselves, their employees and the environment such as air filtration systems.
This is different for many developing countries, where pollutants from wood, coal, and kerosene (still widely used) greatly increase air pollution, with levels of toxic particulate matter capable of exceeding 80 micrograms per cubic meter of air, or about 80 times the levels found in the least polluted areas of the world, namely Scandinavia, North America, and Oceania.
The United Nations therefore calls on the entire world population to "make a difference" between a polluted world (remember that air quality and climate change are closely related) and cleaner air by adopting conscious behaviors.
Individuals and civil society, for example, can contribute by adopting sustainable lifestyles aimed at waste reduction, recycling, and theuse of public transportation, while companies have a duty to invest in production that is as "clean" as possible, implementing systems in production for the control and proper disposal of fumes, dust, and waste of all kinds.
As a company that has always been a promoter of an industrial culture that puts clean air at the basis of both its business and its way of working, Coral employs its own air filtration systems and tools within its plant and is continually committed to improving their performance, effectively adhering to the principles and strategies proposed by the United Nations in favor of cleaner air.
For more information regarding the Environmental Program's initiatives in relation to International Clean Air Day for Blue Skies, cleanairblueskies.org is online.