Page 22 - Respond 2019 Magazine

/ AkzoNobel

What are some of the

most pressing challenges

that we face today?

ccording to the United Nations (UN) Chronicle, energy consumption and
pollution are two critical issues faced by urban communities, which account
for half of the population or 3.5 billion people. About 60 to 80% of the world’s
Aenergy, which is a dominant contributor to climate change, is consumed by
cities. The air quality in cities has deteriorated to such an alarming level that about
92% of the world’s population breathe unsafe air and more than 7 million die annually,
according to World Health Organization (WHO).

What can we do to change the situation? Residents in India’s capital, New Delhi,
In the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable which has been ranked the sixth most
Development”, the United Nations polluted, are taking the brunt of the health
established 17 Sustainable Development crisis due to vehicle emissions and burning
Goals with a comprehensive list of of crops and woods. The air has become
targets to be achieved by 2030. Individual so smoggy and severely toxic that Delhi’s
countries are expected to take ownership government had to declare a public health
and establish national frameworks to emergency and school closures last year.
implement the actions. As a leading It also unveiled 26 new programmes with
global paints and coatings company with a budget of US$ 8.2 billion to clean its air
a strong commitment to sustainability, with such initiatives as electric buses and
AkzoNobel supports these goals, which vehicles, tree planting, switching from
is in line with our purpose to create coal-fired to electric or gas ovens.
everyday essentials to make people’s How can AkzoNobel help Indian cities
lives more liveable and inspiring. We combat pollution? We have developed an
have been at the top of the Dow Jones air-cleansing paint based on photocatalytic
Sustainability Index rankings for the fifth technology that can degrade major
time in six years.
atmospheric pollutants like nitrogen oxides
At AkzoNobel, we believe that we can and sulphur oxides. These gases not only
address some of these challenges with pose health implications themselves but
the innovative solutions that we have also contribute to the formation of PM2.5
developed. With a focus on India and particulate matter that can penetrate
China, we highlight the major problems deep into lungs and bloodstream causing
faced by these two populous countries and diseases such as stroke, heart disease, lung
the solutions that we can offer. cancer and respiratory infections. With
sunlight exposure and moisture, our paint
India will generate radicals that can decompose
While India’s economy continues to these pollutants. A large-scale field trial
expand at the world’s fastest growth is currently being planned to quantify the
rate of about 7.5% annually, millions of efficacy of our paint in improving the air
its citizens are exposed to increasingly quality in Delhi.
unhealthy air. The latest air quality
report from the WHO in May 2018 has To help improve air quality in India
announced that the world’s top 10 most through reduction of the emission of
polluted cities all reside in India. volatile organic compounds (VOC), we

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