Marathon record-holder joins fight for clean air
05/11/2018
In May 2018, UN Environment and the IAAF announced a new partnership to address the issue of air quality. By engaging a community of professional athletes, national athletics federations, local and national governments, community leaders and a growing number of people worldwide who choose to run as their main form of exercise, the IAAF pledged to support UN Environment’s BreatheLife campaign and to contribute key data in the battle to combat air pollution.
“As athletes, with our training and competitions, we take in ten times as much air when we run than when doing something else, so air pollution poses a threat to our health” said Ms Radcliffe on taking up her new role. “I want to improve the situation for runners all around the world. Until the next generation of athletes can run in clean air, I commit to help lead the fight against air pollution.”
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), air pollution is the biggest environmental health risk of our time with nine out of ten people worldwide breathing unsafe air. Every day, around 93% of the world’s children under the age of 15 years (1.8 billion children) breathe air that is so polluted it puts their health and development at risk, the WHO has said. Around seven million people die each year from exposure to polluted air, both indoor and outdoor.
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