International Day of Clean Air for blue skies
Next: September 7, 2027
Breathe in. Now think about it.
The story
Where it comes from
The UN General Assembly adopted this day in December 2019 and the first observance was on 7 September 2020, coordinated by the UN Environment Programme. It grew out of concern that air pollution, the largest environmental risk to health, had no dedicated global day.
How it's celebrated
Cities publish their air-quality data, schools and NGOs hold clean-air campaigns, and governments announce policy commitments. In Southeast Asia the day falls in haze season, which makes it uncomfortably relevant.
Did you know
- The World Health Organization estimates that around seven million people die prematurely each year from the effects of air pollution.
- Some 99 per cent of the world's population breathes air that exceeds WHO guideline limits.
- The blue of a clear sky is sunlight scattered by air molecules; polluted air scatters differently and reads as white or grey.
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