New Delhi: A UN policy brief has said levels of nitrogen dioxide fell by more than 70 per cent during the lockdown in New Delhi.
It warned today that the environmental gains could be temporary if the cities re-open without policies to prevent air pollution and promote de-carbonisation.
The UN Secretary-General’s Policy Brief on ‘Covid-19 in an Urban World’ said that with an estimated 90 per cent of all reported Covid-19 cases, urban areas have become the epicentre of the pandemic.
It also pointed out that several new scientific studies suggest that poor air quality is correlated with higher Covid-19 mortality rates.
It further said that while pollution and greenhouse gas emissions have fallen sharply during the pandemic when countries halted their economies to contain the spread of the virus, these environmental gains are expected to be temporary if economies reopen without policies in place that prevent air pollution and promote decarbonisation.
‘Levels of nitrogen dioxide fell by more than 70 per cent during the lockdown in New Delhi (India), 40 per cent in urban areas in China, 20 per cent in Belgium and Germany, and 19–40 per cent in different areas of the US,’ the brief added.
