SANTA ROSA City Recognized For Its Commitment to Take Action Towards Clean Air

The City of Santa Rosa expresses its commitment to take significant action to address air quality during the 17th IUAPPA World Clean Air Congress and 9th CAA Better Air Quality Conference, happening this week, 29 August to 02 September, at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center in Busan, South Korean. The conference, which focuses on the theme Clean Air for Cities – Perspectives and Solutions, is co-organized by Clean Air Asia (CAA), the International Union of Air Pollution Prevention Associations (IUAPPA), and the Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment (KOSAE).

In the conference session Introduction of the Clean Air Certification held last 31 August 2016, Ms. Erlinda Creencia, Head of the City Environment and Natural Resources Office of Santa Rosa, imparted the city’s current air quality situation, and shared the opportunities that the mechanism could offer.

“We are just starting our journey to address clean air, and certification provides us with an opportunity to build visibility for taking action,” says Creencia.

Clean Air Asia recognized Santa Rosa as among the five cities where the Clean Air Certification will be piloted before opening to a wider participation. Clean Air Certification is a widespread and international recognition of innovative and impactful, voluntary city action towards better air quality. Baguio and Iloilo (Philippines), Malang (Indonesia), and Kathmandu (Nepal) were also recognized alongside Santa Rosa, also for their expression of commitment to clean air action.

Clean Air Certification is a way to build momentum to meet clean air targets, and provides a mechanism for cities to learn from each other and collectively address issues, national governments to recognize and resource local commitments, research institutions to align research around identified needs, and increased business and investor confidence that improves economic outcomes. The standard has been developed drawing on input from a balanced and representative group of stakeholders. This includes city networks, air quality management specialists and experts in addressing pollution from transport, area sources and stationary sources.

Other city stakeholders, including development organizations, the academe, and the private sector, also expressed their support for the Clean Air Certification. Mathias Miedreich, the Asia President of Faurecia emphasized how understanding actions cities take for air quality is important for both targeting their products and where they locate their operations.

Clean Air Asia shall focus the pilot phase of the Clean Air Certification in countries in the South Asia, East Asia, and South East Asian regions. Interested cities, businesses, research institutions, investors, and government agencies may find out more about the certification through www.cleanairasia.org/ccap/certification or e-mail ccap@cleanairasia.org.