Opinion / Nic Monisse
Clearer thinking
Air pollution in urban areas isn’t just hard on residents; it also plays a key role in driving up global temperatures. As a result, improving air quality in cities the world over is crucial in helping to slow that change. Some metropolitan areas are outperforming others: in Asia, Japan’s cities lead the way in reducing air pollution. That’s why academics at Delhi’s Indian Institute of Technology are pushing for the formation of a Clean Air Partnership between India and Japan, building on a previous relationship between the Indian capital and Fukuoka in western Japan.
The partnership would see an exchange of ideas and best practices between the countries, pushing their cities to combat air and environmental pollution. It’s set to be particularly beneficial for India, whose cities can emulate Japan’s approach to modernising waste-management systems and rolling out pollution monitoring networks – both of which contributed enormously to improvements in air quality in Japanese cities.
The concern here, of course, is that sharing knowledge doesn’t necessarily lead to decisive action. Which is why I’d suggest the partnership could be taken a step further: rather than just sharing ideas, why not share people and resources too? Japan could send its top scientists to work in Indian universities and even send rubbish-collection workers to the subcontinent. The smart, sky-blue uniforms and hybrid waste-collection trucks of Tokyo plying the streets of Delhi (pictured) could not only help to curb local air and environmental pollution but also serve as a reminder that cities – while playing a key role on their own – are part of a global cooling solution.