Stories and Solutions

Foreign Affairs. It focused on the health, economic

and development effects of household air pollution.

Nearly 3 billion people still lack reliable, affordable and

sustainable access to modern energy services. Most of

these people live in low- and middle-income countries

and they have to rely on various forms of solid fuel –

animal dung, crop residues and waste, wood, coal and

charcoal – to heat and light their homes and cook their

food. The report provides an overview of the science

and our knowledge of household air pollution and its

effects on human health, development and climate

change. The Executive Summary was presented at a side

event during the 68th World Health Assembly held in

Geneva, in May.

Helping UNEP Monitor the State of the Global Environment GRID-Arendal experts are contributing to UNEP’s Global Environmental Outlook (GEO) report in three areas: regional report for Africa, gender-GEO and the polar and oceans sections. During 2015, significant progress was made in the regional report for Africa, whereby the text has been submitted for peer review by UNEP. GRID- Arendal experts will continue to contribute to other parts of the GEO report during 2016.

Kerosene

Lamp

Soot particles

2.5

Smoke released

contibutes to outdoor

air pollution

Open fire for cooking

and heating

Benzene

And

others...

Household air pollution

Health impacts

Respiratory diseases

Acute lower respiratory

infections (ALRI) in

young children

(pneumonia)

Chronic obstructive

pulmonary disease

(COPD, breathing

problems)

Lung cancer

Asthma

Other health effects

Heart

diseases/problems

Cataract (blindness)

Burns from fire/flame

Poisoning from

ingesting fuels

Traditional Foods in the North The Communications Team provided support to McGill University to develop the Traditional Animal Foods of Indigenous Peoples of Northern North America web site which describes and references the published literature on traditional animal food resources known and used by Indigenous Peoples of northern North America. It presents information on the locations of the cultures whose peoples have used, and often continue to use, these foods. The publication focuses on Canada, Alaska, Greenland and the northern United States of America, but many of the animal species presented also occur in the northern latitudes of Europe and Asia. It presents data for 527 species of animals, drawing information from 489 ethnographic sources, an additional 88 unique sources reporting nutritional information, and 357 sources containing basic biological information. This is a reference guide that will be useful to a variety of users – Indigenous Peoples and the education of their youth, public health professionals, wildlife resource managers, nutritionists, ethnographers, wildlife enthusiasts, the variety of organizations serving Indigenous Peoples, and the academic audience in several disciplines. It will be released in 2016.

Diagram fromthe report Survive Breathing.

Credit: GRID-Arendal/Hugo Ahlenius