World Environment Day 2019 – beat air pollution

World Environment Day takes place on 5 June each year. It is the United Nations day for encouraging worldwide awareness and action to protect our environment. Since it began in 1974, the event has grown to become a global platform for public outreach that is widely celebrated in over 100 countries. The theme this year is air pollution.

Often you can’t even see it, but air pollution is everywhere. With every breath, you are probably sucking in tiny particles that attack your lungs, heart and brain. World Environment Day 2019 is issuing a call to action to combat this global crisis.

Chosen by this year’s host, China, the theme of World Environment Day 2019 invites us all to consider how we can change our everyday lives to reduce the amount of air pollution we produce, and thwart its contribution to global warming and its effects on our own health.

Nine out of ten people worldwide are exposed to levels of air pollutants that exceed World Health Organization safe levels. Around seven million people worldwide die prematurely each year from air pollution with about four million of these deaths occurring in Asia-Pacific. Air pollution causes a host of other problems, including illness and lower IQs. It doesn’t just impact human health and economic growth. Many of the pollutants also cause global warming.

At Wood we strive to reduce our own, and our customers’, carbon emissions.  We recognise the role we play in driving a low carbon economy. Through innovative thinking and proactive challenge, we believe it is possible to achieve a low carbon future that strikes a balance between acceptable environmental parameters and commercial viability. We are also leading a first-of-a-kind project which aims to reduce CO2 emissions.

For more than 30 years, Wood has supported the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNET) project by monitoring air quality at more than 90 remote locations across the US. The high quality data gathered from these remote sites allows the EPA to protect the nation’s air quality by monitoring the reduction of sulfur, nitrogen, and ozone concentrations in the atmosphere.

Our operations touch many parts of the world, and how we manage our impact on the environment is important to ensure our business is sustainable and to protect our communities and planet for generations to come.

For more information on the UN’s 2019 World Environment Day campaign click here.