SOUTH AFRICA — Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Bernice Swarts has issued a formal call for the development of a unified African Air Quality Information System to transform air quality management across the continent. Speaking at the Africa Clean Air Forum, Swarts emphasized that establishing coordinated, data-driven environmental governance is a critical imperative to improve the health and livelihoods of millions of Africans currently exposed to air that fails to meet international health standards.
Swarts framed clean air not merely as an environmental concern, but as a fundamental development imperative. She stated that addressing air pollution is essential for protecting human health, improving educational outcomes, strengthening economic productivity, and ensuring environmental justice for current and future generations.
The Deputy Minister highlighted that rapid urbanization, industrialization, expanding transport systems, rising energy demands, agricultural burning, mining activities, and waste burning are collectively placing unprecedented pressure on the continent’s air quality.
Stressing that air pollution challenges do not respect national borders, Swarts pointed out that transboundary pollution, dust transport, wildfires, and regional economic activities necessitate a coordinated continental response.
To address these multifaceted challenges, she challenged African leaders to establish an African Air Quality Information System. This proposed framework would promote capacity building, foster collaboration among national environmental authorities, and provide citizens with accessible, timely air quality information.
Swarts described poor air quality as a public health emergency, a development challenge, a climate issue, and a matter of environmental justice. She warned that it directly threatens investment, tourism, food security, and sustainable development in emerging economies. The visible consequences include rising respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, lost productivity, increased healthcare costs, and a disproportionate impact on women, children, the elderly, and vulnerable communities.
Addressing leading voices in air quality management, environmental governance, public health, science, and policy at the Africa Clean Air Forum, Swarts highlighted the growing need for integrated digital platforms. As countries expand their monitoring networks, these platforms must be capable of collecting, analyzing, visualizing, and disseminating air quality data in a timely and accessible manner.
She noted that innovation in air quality information management is a critical enabler of improved environmental governance, public health protection, and evidence-based decision-making. Swarts urged governments to work together to harmonize policy approaches, strengthen monitoring networks, improve emissions inventories, mobilize resources, and share technical expertise.
Regional cooperation, she argued, can significantly enhance the collective ability to understand pollution sources, forecast air quality, and implement effective interventions. Specifically, she noted that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has a unique opportunity to build stronger regional air quality governance systems through harmonized policies, joint monitoring initiatives, shared technical expertise, capacity building, and coordinated responses to transboundary air pollution.
Swarts stressed that the success of Africa’s clean air agenda depends on moving beyond commitments to actual implementation. This transition requires strong political leadership, sustainable financing, effective institutions, scientific collaboration, regional cooperation, community participation, and shared accountability.
She emphasized that resource mobilization is a critical enabler of collaborative air quality programs, particularly as many countries face common transboundary pollution challenges but possess varying levels of technical, institutional, and financial capacity.
Concluding her address, the Deputy Minister outlined a shared vision for the continent. She stated that through collective action, Africa can create cities where children breathe clean air, foster communities where economic development does not compromise public health, encourage industries to embrace cleaner technologies, and build governments that collaborate across borders. Ultimately, she asserted, environmental sustainability must become a catalyst for inclusive growth and shared prosperity across Africa.