Nearly 90 percent of the population of the Asia-Pacific region regularly breathe air considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) to be unsafe.
Globally, more than 7 million premature deaths are attributed to air pollution, with two-thirds occurring in the Asia-Pacific region.
Responding to the urgency for solutions to this growing environmental challenge common to many countries and cities across the region, the High-Level Forum on Clean Air will take place in Ulaanbaatar this week, bringing together Ministers, senior policymakers and key stakeholders.
To be hosted from March 2nd-3rd in Mongolia, the forum is jointly organised by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism of Mongolia, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
The Forum aims to further elaborate areas of policy and technical cooperation under the Regional Action Programme on Air Pollution, and engage multilateral, regional and national stakeholders to strengthen science-based and policy-oriented cooperation for improved air quality management.
It will also explore partnership opportunities among multilateral and international organisations to accelerate national actions on clean air.