Air quality at schools in Paris to be monitored from next academic year

The quality of air in our cities is a rising concern for all. To address this problem in the City of Paris, Michael Bloomberg of Bloomberg Philanthropies joins hands with Mayor Hidalgo to understand the current circumstances and improve the quality of air at schools in the City.
Michael Bloomberg, who is the “UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs)” and the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, together launched this project today.
When the new school year starts in September 2019, parents will have access to accurate data on the air quality at their children’s schools and day care centers. The air quality will be sampled by deploying 150 micro-sensors at the institutions. An interactive mapping tool to be published on Paris.fr will make this data available to the parents. The project partner for this initiative is Airparif, who operates the air quality mapping system.
At the launch, Michael Bloomberg expressed his concern over the increasing air pollution and its effect on the health of the people.
“With more than 90% of the world’s city residents breathing unhealthy air, reducing air pollution is essential to saving lives and protecting our communities. This partnership with Mayor Hidalgo and the City of Paris will open up promising possibilities for improving air quality in our cities, and accelerate progress in the fight against air pollution.” – Michael R. Bloomberg.
Anne Hidalgo, the Mayor of Paris, expressed the commitment of the City to improve its air quality. She sees this as a health emergency that requires prompt attention.
It is to be noted that Paris has passed resolutions to prohibit diesel vehicles by 2024. They aim to make Paris the first to get the recognition of “breathable city” from WHO.
“King’s College London Environmental Research Group” and “Clarity” which is a technology firm based in California are some of the other partners being brought in by Bloomberg Philanthropies to ensure this project has a positive impact on the air breathed in by children.
These efforts deserve special mention when one considers the WHO report that states 4.2 million people worldwide die due to air pollution. When these numbers are further drilled down, France has forty-eight thousand deaths per year, and in that Paris has six thousand five hundred deaths.