The 2nd Committee of the 74th UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to designate "International Day of Clean Air for blue skies" proposed by Korea at Nov.26.(Tue) (New York local time) as a consensus of all UN Member States. 

This is the first UN anniversary designated and led by Korea, and this resolution is also the first air pollution-related resolution adopted by the 2nd Committee.

President Moon Jae-in proposed a designation of an anniversary to gather the international community's will to improve air quality in the keynote address of the Climate Action Summit (September 23, New York). The pan-governmental all-encompassing diplomatic activities including headquarter of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Representative of the UN, the Ministry of Environment, the Office for Government Policy Coordination, National Council on Climate and Air quality led the resolution to be adopted with the support of all UN member states as soon as possible.

※ 22 countries including Republic of Korea, the United States, Thailand and Costa Rica participate as co-sponsors.

It is also the result of international consensus that raising awareness of air pollution and joint efforts are needed to improve air quality, given the negative impact of air pollution on the health and sustainable development of the world's population.

This resolution designated September 7 as 'International Day of Clean Air for blue skies', and UN Member States, United Nations agencies, international and regional organizations, civil society call on to commemorate 'International Day of Clean Air for blue skies' and call for international cooperation to improve air quality, and the UN Environment Program [UNEP] plays a role in promoting compliance with the anniversary.

The adoption of the agreement is expected to raise awareness of the need to improve air quality in the international community and to promote air pollution response actions such as collecting and utilizing air pollution-related data, conducting scientific research, and sharing best practices.

※ The anniversary of the United Nations generally designates UN agencies in the related field as implementation bodies, and UNEP, an environmental agency of the Nations, serves as the implementation organization for 'International Day of Clean Air for blue skies'. (UNEP organizes Environmental Day (6.5) event)

※ UN anniversary day : 165 days including World Environment Day (June.5th) and Ozone Layer International Conservation Day (Sep.16th)

The international community will commemorate 'International Day of Clean Air for blue skies' from September 7, 2020. The Korean government will also actively participate in the international community's efforts to prepare for the low carbon era by linking air quality improvement and climate change response.