- The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that approximately 19,000 people die each year in Kenya due to air pollution
- The Swiss company said it is improving its statistics to capture more realistic data.
Image: FILE
Nairobi has surprisingly been rated among cities with the cleanest air in the world.
This assessment was done by a Swiss company, which relies on air monitors mounted in different locations around the world to measure quality of air.
The monitors measure the amount of fine inhalable particles called particulate matter (PM2.5) with diameters not bigger than that of a strand of hair.
The assessment has been published in a global report known as IQAir.
The company releases the report annually and is probably the most comprehensive in the world.
“A clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a universal human right. In many parts of the world the lack of air quality data delays decisive action and perpetuates unnecessary human suffering,” said Frank Hammes, CEO of IQAir.
Kenya is 45th among the 134 countries that reported air quality, mostly around cities.
The countries with the cleanest air include French Polynesia, Mauritius, Iceland, Grenada and Bermuda in that order.
On the other hand, the dirtiest air is found in Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Tajikistan, Burkina Faso and Iraq.
However, the good ratings for Kenya may depend on where the air monitors are mounted.
The World Health Organization estimates that about 19,000 people die every year in Kenya due to air pollution.
Unep says Nairobi has 70 per cent pollution levels.
The Swiss company said it is improving its statistics to capture more realistic data.
It said that while the number of countries and regions with air quality monitoring has steadily increased over the past six years, there remain significant gaps in government-operated regulatory instrumentation in many parts of the world.
“In 2023 air pollution remained a global health catastrophe, IQAir’s global data set provides an important reminder of the resulting injustices and the need to implement the many solutions that exist to this problem,” said Aidan Farrow, senior air quality scientist at Greenpeace International, in a statement.
In Africa, Mauritius, followed by Angola, Kenya, Algeria, Guinea, have the cleanest air.
The dirtiest air is found in Burkina Faso, Egypt, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Zimbabwe, according to the report.
It also notes Nairobi is the 12th least polluted city in Africa, with the cleanest cities in South Africa.
The report comes weeks after Unep in Nairobi said its members will be required to install more monitors to check the quality of air, which is fast deteriorating in urban areas.
This was one of the key agreements Kenya and other countries made at the UN Environment Assembly, which ended last month in Nairobi.
The 190 countries represented at the conference made 15 key resolutions, among them enhancing national air quality monitoring, capacity building and coordinating efforts to develop and implement air quality action plans and policies.
“Also, the resolution on air pollution which focuses on enhancing national air quality monitoring, capacity building, coordinating efforts to develop and implement air quality action plans and policies is equally important,” said Leila Benali, Morrocan energy minister who was the president of UNEA 6.
Ministry of Environment says one of the main pollutants in Kenya comes from the suspended particulate matter known as PM2.5 and PM10. These tiny particles come from many sources, including burning fossil fuels for lighting and transportation, chemicals in mines, burning garbage in open areas, burning forests and fields, using indoor stoves as well as heating oil.
Benali said the assembly advanced its core mandate, which the legitimate human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, everywhere.
“I would like to especially acknowledge all delegations for their constructive engagement in the negotiations over the last 10 days. I would even like to propose to Unep, the creation of an award for the best environment and climate negotiators, particularly the most driven and enlightened negotiators, those embodying the belief in a greater cause,” she said.
More than 5,600 people, representing 190 countries participated in the week-long Assembly held at Unep headquarters in Gigiri, focused on effective, inclusive and sustainable multilateral actions to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.
The 15 resolutions made at UNEA-6 focus on management of metals, mineral resources, chemicals and waste and environmental assistance and recovery in areas impacted by armed conflict.
The others focus on integrated water resource management in the domestic sector, agriculture and industry to tackle water stress, on sustainable lifestyles, on rehabilitation of degraded lands and waters.
Unep Executive Director Inger Andersen said the 15 resolutions and two decisions cover important aspects of the triple planetary crisis.
She said some of the decisions are geared towards advances in securing the metals and minerals needed for the transition to net zero and for the world to do better in protecting the environment during and after conflicts.
“You delivered resolutions that will help Unep and Member States do more on chemicals and waste and sand and dust storms. The President has gaveled resolutions that address desertification, land restoration and more. We also have a ministerial declaration that affirms the international community’s strong intent to slow climate change, restore nature and land and create a pollution-free world,” Inger said.
She revealed that the negotiations were not always easy as member States did not always agree.
“But that is the nature of multilateralism, and indeed of life. What matters is how we disagree. We do so respectfully and then we seek to overcome our differences. Even in disagreement, we search for commonality. UNEA-6 has opened important conversations, not all of which have landed, but I am sure they will continue in the spirit of finding solutions that work for people and the planet.”
The resolution on air pollution focuses on enhancing national air quality monitoring, capacity building and coordinating efforts to develop and implement air quality action plans and policies.