A problem that is still invisible to the eyes of most Brazilians, air pollution, is not only an environmental issue and it does not only affect people’s health. This is what the State of the Air Quality in Brazil shows, which is a study organized by WRI with renowned scientists and experts on the subject (including iCS) in order to present the largest systematization of studies on air quality in the country – and also its impact on the economy, agriculture and other sectors.
The study shows that the country has a national air pollution control policy that has not been implemented, with legal weaknesses and without a clear timetable for the reduction of pollutants, which are responsible for the deaths of over 50,000 Brazilians each year. On January 28, a webinar launched the publication, discussing how science, civil society and politics can make a difference in the improvement of the air breathed by Brazilians. Participating in the discussion, which was mediated by Walter F. de Simoni, coordinator of Climate and Cities at WRI Brazil, were Paulo Artaxo, professor at the Institute of Physics at USP, a member of the IPCC and of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences; Rodrigo Agostinho, Federal Deputy for the State of São Paulo and coordinator of the Parliamentary Environmentalist Front; and Evangelina Vormittag, executive director of the Institute for Health and Sustainability. Watch the launch here .
“There are feasible ways to reduce the emission of air pollutants. The control of emissions especially from transport, industrial processes and fires is essential for the socioeconomic development and the mitigation of climate change. The study indicates that the country already has a legal framework to provide structure to a management system of air quality. Even so, there is also an urgent need for this framework to have more legal certainty, provide resources, create a clear and obligatory timetable for the implementation of the next phases of the national standards of air quality and generate clear incentives for the implementation of the established tools,” states an excerpt from the executive summary. Download it here .
