Clean air is a basic human right, but air pollution has become one of the greatest environmental risk factors for human health. Exposure to air pollution is a leading global health risk which causes ill health and millions of premature deaths each year worldwide. A recent report titled “Different Air Under One Sky: The Inequity Air Research” published by Greenpeace India, estimates that 100% of the population in Malaysia live in areas with air pollution levels that are above the World Health Organisation’s guidelines for safe air quality. Risks are not evenly distributed amongst the population, with some groups of people at greater risk of harm. We discuss this and other key findings from the report, including the need to have real-time information about the quality of the air we breathe, with Heng Kiah Chun, a Greenpeace Malaysia Campaigner, and Yung-Jen Chen, a Greenpeace Global Air Pollution Unit Senior Campaigner.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Produced by: Juliet Jacobs

Presented by: Juliet Jacobs

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Categories:  environment,  education

Tags:  air quality guidelines,  particulate matter,  social inequity,  inequity air research,  air pollution,  greenpeace,  world health organization,  pollution,  climate,  clean air,  social justice,