A/HRC/40/55 96. In Europe, a series of legal developments has established that European citizens have an enforceable right to breathe clean air.56 In 2008, the European Union amended its rules governing air quality. 57 Many States are not in compliance with the new rules. Successful lawsuits based on violations of air quality standards have been brought by civil society organizations including ClientEarth in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Friends of the Earth in France, Deutsche Umwelthilfe in Germany and others in Austria, Czechia and Poland.58 97. In its latest report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change calls for a twothirds reduction in coal power generation in 2030 and a near-total elimination by 2050.59 A growing number of States have eliminated the use of coal to generate electricity, are phasing out coal or are committed to never using coal for electricity generation. Canada and the United Kingdom created the Powering Past Coal Alliance in 2017 and have been joined by more than 25 States pledging to end coal use by 2030. China and India have closed coalfired electricity plants located in proximity to large cities. The number of proposed coalfired power plants has fallen dramatically since 2015 and new construction is almost offset by the retirement of existing coal plants. 60 98. Two initiatives that have dramatically improved air quality in many countries are the phase-out of leaded gasoline and major reductions in the sulphur content of transport fuels. These actions have produced enormous health, environmental and economic benefits, valued in the trillions of dollars.61 99. Curitiba, a large Brazilian city, has built an extensive rapid bus system. In 2013, a plan to add 300 kilometres of bicycle paths was launched. These transport initiatives have contributed to making life expectancy in Curitiba two years longer than the national average and to relatively low infant mortality. 62 Estonia piloted free public transit in its capital in 2013 and recently extended the system across the whole country. There are approximately 100 public transit systems in the world, from Dunkirk, France, to Changning, China, offering free fare programmes. 100. A growing number of countries (e.g. China, Germany, India and the United Kingdom) have pledged to phase out the sale of internal combustion vehicles by dates ranging from 2030 to 2040.63 101. Norway has achieved a remarkably high proportion of electric vehicle sales through a variety of incentives and disincentives. The most recent data indicate that 60 per cent of new vehicle sales in Norway are fully electric or gas/electric hybrids, compared with 1 per cent in the United States and 2 per cent in China. Throughout the European Union, States impose vehicle registration taxes and fuel taxes intended to encourage the purchase of clean vehicles and discourage the purchase of more polluting models. 102. In California, rules prohibit siting new schools within 500 feet (150 metres) of busy roads, in response to scientific evidence about the adverse health effects of traffic-related air pollution on developing lungs, brains and other organs. 103. Shipping is a major source of air pollution. The International Maritime Organization recently established a strict new limit for the sulphur content of fuel used in shipping. This change will prevent an estimated 570,000 premature deaths between 2020 and 2025. 64 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 A. Andrews, The Clean Air Handbook: A Practical Guide to EU Air Quality Law (London, ClientEarth, 2015). Directive 2008/50/EC on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe. See www.right-to-clean-air.eu/en/. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5o C (2018). See www.endcoal.org. E. Gould, “Childhood lead poisoning: conservative estimates of the social and economic benefits of lead hazard control”, Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 117, No. 7 (July 2009), pp. 1162–1167. WHO, Inheriting a Sustainable World? Center for Climate Protection, Actions by countries to phase out internal combustion engines, 2018. 17