Mayors of Paris, Mexico City, Madrid and Athens Sign Air Quality Declaration at C40 Mayors Summit
Diesel vehicles will be removed from Paris, Mexico City, Madrid and Athens by 2025, as part of unprecedented effort by mayors to improve the quality of air for their citizens. These pioneering cities also pledged to incentivise alternative vehicles and promote walking and cycling infrastructure. The market-shifting commitment was made today at the C40 Mayors Summit in Mexico City. Worldwide, 3 million deaths each year are linked to exposure to outdoor air pollution according to WHO, with the vast majority of these deaths occurring in cities.
Citizens of cities across the world are joining the call for cleaner air through a global petitiondemanding that vehicle manufacturers lead an air quality transformation. They are urging the companies to stop producing diesel vehicles by 2025 and to support a rapid transition to electric, hydrogen and hybrid vehicles.
Pursuing policies that improve air quality – decarbonizing transportation systems and promoting alternative transportation options – also help cities deliver on the ambition of the Paris Agreement.
Further bolstering the effort of C40 cities to improve air quality, C40 announced a two-year partnership with Johnson & Johnson to promote the health and well-being of urban inhabitants and the environment we all share. Johnson & Johnson will support C40 climate programmes that also have co-benefits for air quality and human health. Through research and education, the partnership will help connect the dots between better climate and air to measurably better health benefits in vulnerable urban areas.
C40 also announced that it was joining with the World Health Organisation and UN Environment’s Climate and Clean Air Coalition, in support of the BreathLife campaign to halve the 6.5 million deaths from air pollution by 2030. The global campaign will support city governments to reduce harmful emissions from the transport, waste and energy sectors, as well as mobilizing citizen action to reduce air pollution while also slowing climate change.
“92% of the world’s population live in places where air pollution levels exceed the WHO safe level for air pollution. Soot from diesel vehicles are amongst the big contributors to ill health and global warming. But we have many solutions that work,” said Helena Molin Valdés, Head of the CCAC. “By working with C40 cities and other partners, we can help cities work together, identify and implement the most effective solutions to rapidly improve air quality and achieve the BreatheLife goal to halve deaths from air pollution by 2030.”
