This was one of the main messages from the three day Integrated Conference on Better Air Quality (BAQ) 2014 and Intergovernmental 8th Regional Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) Forum in Asia held in Colombo on 19-21 November 2014.
More than 1000 delegates from 50 countries were come to Colombo to attend the 03 day conference.
This year's conference theme is next Generation Solutions for clean Air and Sustainable Transport- Towards a Livable Society in Asia.
This was organized by Clean Air Asia, the UN Center for Regional Development and the Sri Lanka Government, the high policy forum helped provide leaders with a strategic platform to discuss air pollution, transport and climate change solutions across Asia.
Since the BAQ started 12 years ago, much has been done to help improve the situation of air quality in Asia and it emerged from the Conference that there are new opportunities to help and address the issue of bad air quality.
According to the World Health Organization 7 out of 10 cities have unhealthy levels of air pollution, exposing residents to significant public health risk.
Moreover, WHO has recently noted the air pollution has claimed over 7 million lives in 2012 in premature deaths due to deteriorating air quality. According to WHO 6 people die every minute from outdoor air pollution in Asia. With 98% Asia's 245 key cities suffering air quality problems and the numbers of vehicles in developing Asia has grown from 192 million in 2002 to over 460 million in 2010.
In Colombo, the transport sector alone accounts for 60 per cent of the country's air pollution as the country doubled its vehicles to 4.2 million in just two decades, said Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse this year's guest of honor.
"But as new regulations and distant reduction targets are promised, more action is needed and follow-through and enforcement will be critical so that today's words become tomorrow's actions. The opportunity to act, is clearly now" Robert O'Keefe, chair of the board of trustees, Clean Air Asia said.
It became clear from the BAQ conference that more countries are heeding the call to achieve better air quality by making data from air quality monitoring more transparent, adopting tools that reduce emission, and coordinating action to reduce carbon emissions. However, it also became clear that more action is needed.
The event id co-organized by the Ministry of transport of Sri Lanka, The Ministry of Environment and Renewable Energy of Sri Lanka, Ministry of environment of Japan, United Nation Center for Regional Development and Clean Air Asia in partnership with the Asian Development Bank, German International Cooperation (GIZ) and World Bank. (SDF/HC)
