International Clean Air Day for Blue Skies is observed on September 7 to raise awareness among the global population about the importance of reducing air pollution. Air pollution is one of the greatest environmental risks to human health and causes millions of premature deaths each year.
Clean air is essential for human health, economic resilience, and climate stability. However, air pollution continues to pose significant economic and public health challenges.
Joint action to address climate change and air pollution can generate economic benefits and protect public health, ensuring cleaner air for everyone.
Three Initiatives to Curb Air Pollution in Latin America
- Concepción, Chile
The municipality of Concepción has been working on various actions and strategies to improve air quality. Since the main sources of air pollutants in this region are PM2.5 particulate matter—which is primarily produced by wood-burning heating in homes (60%) and by industries (34%)—one of the municipality’s key measures is to promote the use of firewood and improve its quality through ongoing community education.
Additionally, to reduce emissions from mobile sources, 8 km of new bike lanes have been built since 2013 to encourage the use of bicycles as a means of urban transportation.
In 2019, Concepción developed the “Local Climate Change Plan” in collaboration with the community. This plan includes measures to prevent pollution of the municipality’s various bodies of water, as well as air pollution from particulate matter.
- Guadalajara, Mexico
The municipality of Guadalajara implements public policies that improve air quality and promote the well-being of its citizens. As a member of the World Tree Cities Network, it remains committed to greening the city and placing trees at the center of its public policies.
Within this framework, in 2019 the city launched the “Guadalajara, Ciudad Fresca” public policy, which is spearheaded by the Department of the Environment and focuses on actions to lower the city’s temperature—particularly in heat islands—as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2020, the Government of Guadalajara implemented the 2020 Comprehensive Urban Tree Management Program, with the goal of maintaining more than 12,000 trees in the city and thereby reducing the risk of diseased or vulnerable trees falling.
- Barranquilla, Colombia
Among the policies and initiatives being implemented in the city to improve air quality is the planting of 250,000 trees taller than 2 meters. This helps ensure their survival rate, given the city’s climatic conditions. For this project, the city government operates a 53-hectare nursery with various tree species, including those native to the tropical dry forest, which are planted in urban areas.
They have also restored the mangrove ecosystem, which helps remove CO₂, by planting 60,000 mangrove trees between 2019 and 2020. This ecosystem had been affected by human activities in the Mallorquín Marsh, a critically important ecosystem due to its status as a coastal lagoon with estuarine characteristics within the urban area.
Furthermore, for the district mayor’s office, environmental education is a fundamental component of air quality management; therefore, strategies have been designed to educate the community. For example, they have developed the “Environmental Story” initiative, in which more than 250 children and adolescents participated by writing stories and tales related to air quality.
By: Juan Carlos Ugarelli.
