By Shazia Z. Rafi, President and Convenor of AirQualityAsia, consultant specializing in parliamentary diplomacy related to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals

As we approach the Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs] 2030 five-year review in 2020, the SDGs are in danger of the same fate as the Millennium Development Goals [MDGs]– not enough implementation, many high flourish commitments including on financing that remain unmet. Since the SDGs are a voluntary commitment by governments there is no enforcement mechanism.

Emergency action, however, is needed on the SDGs related to air pollution and air-quality.

“Air Pollution has become the new tobacco” says Dr. Tedros Adhanom-Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization [WHO]. According to the Lancet air pollution kills more people than AIDs, Malaria and Tuberculosis combined. It is also the key link between the SDGs and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change as the same carbon emissions accelerate air pollution and global warming.

To deal with this looming crisis, the United Nations Secretary-General is urging governments to come to the Climate Summit in September 2019 with tangible commitments, not more promises. Read more

Parliamentary Network Review June 2019, vol. 11 n˚3

The Parliamentary Network on the World Bank and International Monetary Fund