April 2014: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has recommended measures to maintain a clean and healthy environment for human health, in its third briefing note on priorities for the post-2015 development agenda.

The Note estimates that unhealthy living and working environments cause almost one-quarter of all deaths and diseases. It discusses the health impacts – especially on the poor – of air pollution, chemicals and waste exposure, poor water quality, ecosystem degradation and malnutrition, and climate change and ozone depletion.

The Note recommends measures including: switching to cleaner energy sources; mainstreaming chemicals management into national public health programmes; phasing out remaining ozone-depleting substances (ODS); managing land and forests sustainably; restoring catchments and improving water quality; and promoting low-carbon technologies.

It also recommends ways to reduce the impacts of climate change, such as using light covered surfaces for buildings and roads, planting urban gardens, sustainably managing wetlands, and closer collaboration between meteorological, public health and environmental authorities to identify risks and plan effective responses.

Previous UNEP Post-2015 Notes addressed: integrating the three dimensions of sustainable development; and sustainable consumption and production (SCP). [Publication: UNEP Post-2015 Note #3: Human Health and the Environment] [UN-NGLS Summaries of the Briefing Notes] [UNEP Webpage for Post-2015]