The Commonwealth Human Ecology Council Newsletter – July 2019

#CleanAirForAll

CHEC is continuing its focus on air pollution, something that roughly nine in 10 of us are daily exposed to. A report about air pollution in megacities has been released by the Ramphal Institue, summing up the outcomes of an international conference that was held in September last year, where CHEC participated. According to the report, airpollution is now causing an estimated 7 million deaths annually.

We are delighted to finally share our Annual Report for 2018. In this year’s report we hear from the new Chairman of CHEC, Mark Robinson, as well as updates from the London Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the Zena Daysh Lecture, the CHEC Bees and Pollinators Project and an overview of all of the reports and publications released by CHEC in 2018.

We are continuing with the interviewing of the people behind the Commonwealth Human Ecology Council, to hear about their background and what they believe CHEC should focus on in the future. This month, we talked to Ripin Kalra, CHEC Governing Board Trustee. Ripin is currently pushing for a new project, aiming to work together with communities in Bangladesh and other South Asian countries to restore and protect urban ponds and fresh water resources.

July also saw the publication of two exciting posts on the CHEC Website; The Human Ecology Cake and Megacities and Air Pollution. The first, composed by Eva Ekehorn, presents a simplified way to bring the many aspects and layers of human ecology into one coherent understanding through the imagery of a cake! While Megacities and Air Pollution takes a look at international conference of the same name hosted by the Ramphal Institute last year. Both are interesting reads in what has been a busy month for CHEC.

The end of July saw CHEC's volunteer, Ebba Raij, finish her time with organisation. For the last few months Ebba has helped out in the CHEC office, attended events, contributed to the CHEC journal, published on the CHEC website and has been a great addition to the office. CHEC will undoubtedly miss Ebba and the whole of CHEC thanks her for her contributions while volunteering with us and wish her the best for the future.

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