New Delhi: As Lok Sabha elections are around the corner, actress and Goodwill Ambassador UNEP, Dia Mirza has urged the people, especially mothers to make sure that clean air becomes a key electoral issue in Lok Sabha polls 2024.
So far, in the country, not a single political party has made climate change or clean air an election issue despite, India being the eighth most polluted country in the world, with an average PM2.5 concentration of 53.3 micrograms per cubic metre.
Launching ” Mother For Clean Air Network’ Dia Mirza said, “Use your voice to make clean air a priority in the upcoming elections, 2024”.
“Despite what you may have read and heard, this is not a single-issue Election. This means that leading up to the upcoming elections in India, you have a powerful opportunity to ensure that clean air becomes a key electoral issue in your region” she wrote.
She further added, “In as many places as possible, we want to make sure that candidates from each of the political parties know how crucial it is for the next government to take urgent action at both a local and national level to improve air quality and safeguard children’s health”.
“Regardless of where you reside and who might be your next representative, we want to work together in making our voices heard” she further added.
She also launched a mobile number to join the network, to demand Clean Air from all leaders and politicians in the upcoming general elections in 2024.
The “Mothers For Clean Air Network” has a clean air pledge, which will urge the candidates to commit to fulfilling certain demands to meet the demand for clean air quality and other climate change mitigation plans.
India had the third worst air quality out of 134 countries in 2023 after Bangladesh and Pakistan according to the World Air Quality Report 2023 by IQAir.
The national capital was ranked the most polluted capital city in the world four times on the trot starting in 2018. It is estimated that 1.36 billion people in India experience PM2.5 concentrations exceeding the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended annual guideline level of 5 micrograms per cubic metre, the report said.
