MEDIA RELEASE

05.07.2019

AMCHAM T&T TO HOST CLEANATHON 2019

AMCHAM T&T will be launching the 23^rd Annual Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) Conference and Exhibition on Saturday, 6 July 2019 with a CLEANATHON and Fun Day event in commemoration of the 2019 UN World Environment Day.

AMCHAM T&T, which hosts the region’s premier HSSE conference that typically brings together the largest gathering of HSSE professionals from both international and regional territories, is seeking to increase local awareness on the effects of air pollution with this year’s conference. With the continuous and elevated levels of the Sahara dust affecting air quality and the lives of citizens across Trinidad and Tobago over the past couple months, AMCHAM T&T believes highlighting the impact of air pollution remains a very timely and relevant issue that deserves addressing.

The World Health Organisation highlights air pollution as the greatest environmental risk to human health, second only to climate change. Air pollution is also estimated to be the cause of seven million premature deaths every year (4.3 million from ambient outdoor pollution, and 2.6 from households.)

A recent UN Environment report on Caribbean Air Quality outlines that Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide. In 2017, air pollution was the fifth highest mortality risk factor globally and was associated with about 4.9 million deaths and 147 million years of healthy life lost.

AMCHAM T&T’s CLEANATHON will engage citizens to collect trash around the Queen’s Park Savannah while highlighting the hazards of environmental abuse with the focus being on the impact of air pollution. AMCHAM T&T believes indoor and outdoor air quality can be improved if the right investments are made towards renewable energy, tightening vehicle emission standards, reducing open burning of agricultural and municipal waste, providing greater access to cleaner cooking and heating fuels and adopting more efficient cook/space heating stoves for citizens. Failure to address these very real concerns would continue to erode the quality of life for all citizens.

AMCHAM T&T is inviting everyone to support this worthy venture to raise awareness on air pollution and by extension the urgent need to protect our planet. So, come out in your numbers and let’s clean up the Queen’s Park Savannah to #BeatAirPollution and maintain Clean Air for a Better Tomorrow.

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