Breathelife concert

Excellencies
Ladies and gentlemen,

It is an honour to be with you today to highlight, through music and performance, the impact of air pollution on global health.

I’m sure many of you here know the figures, but that does not make them any less shocking. Air pollution kills 7 million people annually. Over 90% of the world’s children are breathing toxic air every day. One third of all deaths from stroke, lung cancer and heart disease is due to air pollution. And the burden of disease from polluted air is most felt by low and middle income countries.

In 2015 the global community agreed to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and pledged to leave no one behind. But these figures I just listed show that far too many people are being left behind when it comes to cleaner air and the benefits it has for lifelong health. We must do more.

At the United Nations at Geneva, we have made concerted efforts to reduce the environmental impact of our buildings and staff and build a more environmentally friendly organization. Between 2009 and 2016, UN Geneva reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 44%. One of our initiatives has been to use the water of nearby Lake Geneva to cool the buildings. And with the renovation of the Palais des Nations, we expect to reduce our emissions further. We’re also becoming climate neutral by off-setting our residual greenhouse gas emissions.

But we’ll keep looking for more ways to improve our environmental credentials. We cannot rest on our laurels. I urge you to do the same –to commit to finding ways you can contribute to improving the quality of the air we breathe. Too many people rely on us doing more.

Thank you all very much.