UN OFFICIAL CALLS FOR URGENT ACTION TO IMPROVE AIR QUALITY IN ASIA-PACIFIC REGION

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: UNNews <UNNews@un.org>
Date: 21 Jun 2013 14:00:00 -0400
Subject: UN OFFICIAL CALLS FOR URGENT ACTION TO IMPROVE AIR QUALITY IN
ASIA-PACIFIC REGION
To: news11@ny-mail-p-lb-028.ptc.un.org

UN OFFICIAL CALLS FOR URGENT ACTION TO IMPROVE AIR QUALITY IN
ASIA-PACIFIC REGIONNew York, Jun 21 2013 2:00PMWith smog levels
hitting all time highs in cities across the Asia-Pacific region, a
senior United Nations official there is calling on Governments to do
more, with greater urgency, to tackle the myriad challenges associated
with worsening air quality.

"The ongoing problem of air pollution between Indonesia and Singapore
is symptomatic of a much wider challenge for the countries of [the
region]," <"http://www.unescap.org/news/un-escap-calls-urgent-regional-action-improve-asia-pacific-air-quality">said
Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), urging Governments in the
region to prioritize critical issues of air quality and human health.

"Cross-boundary pollution is politically complex, but it must be
urgently addressed. We need more effective frameworks to manage
ecosystem services, such as air and water, which transcend
administrative and political boundaries," she said, adding that such
matters are regional issues which must be tackled at the regional, as
well as national and local levels.

According to ESCAP, urban air pollution generated by vehicles,
industries, and energy production causes an estimated 500,000
premature deaths in Asian cities every year.

With more than 1.7 billion people across the region still reliant on
dung, wood, crop waste, and coal to meet their basic energy needs,
indoor air pollution from solid fuel use is estimated to be
responsible for more than 1.6 million deaths. Exposure rates are
especially high amongst women and children, who spend the most time
near domestic hearths.

"Health is the single most important enabler of development," said Ms.
Heyzer, stressing that efforts to build a more sustainable region must
prioritize preventing "pollution of our air, our water, our food, and
other common regional goods."

Indeed, there is little point in investing in healthcare systems and
ensuring access if, at the same time, the cost of the region's growth
is the destruction of the most basic environmental resources on which
human health depends, she said.

In the context of increasingly severe climate change, carbon dioxide
(CO₂) emissions have dominated regional and global air
quality discussions. But Ms. Heyzer stressed that: "We must also
remember that one of the most serious and directly damaging issues of
air pollution, especially in our rapidly urbanizing regions, is the
concentration of particulates, which greatly increases the risk of
heart and lung diseases and cancers."

Calling on the governments of the region to do more to tackle issues
of worsening air quality, she said that the nexus of air, water, food,
energy, and land is not simply an environmental one – it is where
social, economic, and environmental concerns converge.

"Our commitment to sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific
will ultimately stand or fall on our response to these issues," she
said, explaining that it is through strengthening existing mechanisms,
and through inclusive intergovernmental platforms, such as ESCAP, that
the challenges could be best addressed to the benefit of all the
people of the region.Jun 21 2013 2:00PM
________________
For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news

Follow us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/UN.News.Centre) and
Twitter (http://twitter.com/UN_News_Centre)

To change your profile or unsubscribe go to: http://www.un.org/apps/news/email/


--
President of The United States
Guy Ralph Perea Sr President of The United States
Weatherdata1046am0426 a Discussion Group of
Weatherdata<http://groups.google.com/group/weatherdata1046am0426>
USFMSC
http://www.cityfreq.com/ca/avalon/>
QUALIFY QICP
OCCUPS
http://www.occupationalinfo.org/02/025062010.html
goldlandabstracts; link check
own search engine - The United
States International Policies
http://apps.facebook.com/faceblogged/?uid=1340855784
http://lnk.ms/8d5gl aol
http://groups.google.com/group/united-states-of-american
http://twitter.com/ptusss Federal Communication
Commission<http://columbiabroadcast.spaces.live.com/>

Ambassador Chevy Chase; Kevin Corcran; Jack Nickolas; Cher; Shirley Temple
Black; Liza Minnille; Ansari; Ernest Tascoe; Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act
Agent Jodie Foster; Department of Veterans Affairs Director George H.W. Bush
Title 22 USCS section 1928 (b) The e-mail
transmission may contain legally privileged information that
is intended only for the individual or entity recipient, you are hereby,
notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or reliance upon the
contents of this E-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
E-mail transmission in error, please reply to the sender, so arrangements
can be made for proper delivery. Title 42
USCS section 192 etseq Margie Paxton Chief of Childrens Bureau
Director of The United States Department of Human Services; Defendant
Article IV General Provisions Section 2
(Supreme Law of The Land) The Constitution of The United States "Any thing
in The Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary Notwithstanding"
Contrary to Law (of an act or omission) illegal;
https://twitter.com/presidentus1