UNICEF is calling on world leaders to reduce air pollution, saying it leads to the deaths of more children yearly than malaria¹ and HIV/AIDS combined.

 

联合国儿童基金会（UNICEF）呼吁各国领导人减少空气污染，该组织称每年死于空气污染的儿童比死于疟疾和艾滋病的儿童加起来还要多。

 

Around 600,000 children under age 5 die every year from diseases caused by or exacerbated² by outdoor and indoor air pollution, especially in poor nations, UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said in the introduction to a report titled "Clear the Air for Children."

 

Air pollution also hurts children it doesn't kill, including the unborn, he said.

 

"Pollutants³ don't only harm children's developing lungs, they can actually cross the blood-brain barrier and permanently⁴ damage their developing brains, and, thus, their futures⁵. No society can afford to ignore air pollution."

 

The report was released in advance of the November 7-18 UN Climate Change Conference in Marrakech, Morocco, also known as COP22, the 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties.

 

Around 2 billion children live in places with outdoor pollution exceeding World Health Organization air quality guidelines, the report said. Most of these children live in low- and middle-income countries.

 

That includes 620 million in South Asia, 520 million in Africa and 450 million in East Asia and the Pacific, UNICEF said.

 

The outdoor air pollution is most common in low-income, urban areas and is caused by vehicle emissions⁶, heavy use of fossil fuels, dust and burning of waste, the report said.

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