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There is something we desperately need
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that we cannot stop doing:
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it is breathing.
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Do you want to try?
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Why don't we stop breathing together
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for, let's say, even 10 seconds.
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Is that OK?
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Let's do it.
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Get ready ... OK, now!
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Oof, difficult, isn't it?
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Well, this is an incredible number
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that will again take your breath away:
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seven.
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Seven what?
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Seven million premature deaths a year
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caused by exposure to the bad quality
of the air we breathe.
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Imagine -- it's like more than
the entire population of my dear Madrid
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will be wiped out in one year.
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And you may ask:
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Has this information been disclosed?
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Has this information
been publicized, distributed?
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Well, yes.
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We have at the moment
more than 70,000 scientific papers
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examining the relationship
between air pollution and our health,
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and the global media has been
regularly covering this issue.
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In fact, in a relatively
short period of time,
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we have come to know
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that air pollution is having
a negative impact
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on almost all our major organs.
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Let's start by the lungs.
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When we think about air pollution,
we always think about the lungs.
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In fact, every time we take a breath,
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we are inhaling toxic pollutants,
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and our poor pink and lovely lungs
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are suffering all of that.
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Over the last 10 years,
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we have put together a lot of knowledge
about what's happened to that,
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but let me tell you first
what is air pollution.
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OK, air pollution
is a very complex mixture
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of solid particles,
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liquid droplets
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and gaseous chemicals.
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Imagine all of this mixture
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that might come from sources
like household fuel burning
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or industry or traffic
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or many other indoor and outdoor sources.
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And, of course, different
sources of pollution
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will make different
mixtures of pollutants.
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The point is that all of these toxins,
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they can be combined in different ways.
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Let's take, for instance,
the particulate matter, the PM.
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It can be a mixture that will include --
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look at the cocktail here --
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soil and road dust,
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sea salt,
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toxic metals,
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diesel smog,
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nitrates and sulfates,
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and all of this toxic poison,
this delicious cocktail,
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is going through our lungs every day,
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and we are constantly exposed
to this air pollution
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because we cannot stop breathing.
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I mean, we can do it for 10 seconds,
but no more than that.
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We cannot stop breathing
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and, in addition,
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we need, every day,
around 10,000 liters of air.
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So we said that we have
seven million deaths
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caused by air pollution every year.
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Are we panicking?
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Are we keeping calm?
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Are we declaring a national disaster,
a global emergency?
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Well, no, and in fact I'm asking myself
this question every day:
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What is happening?
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But here is something that maybe
will force us to react more quickly.
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Air pollution is not just
affecting our lungs.
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It's affecting our brain as well.
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This is our brain.
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Beautiful.
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We all have it.
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We all need it.
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Hopefully, we all use it --
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(Laughter)
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some more than others.
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And in the last 10 years of history,
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the research about the relationship
between air pollution
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and our brain's health
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has been increased dramatically,
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so maybe now our brain
is going up in smoke.
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But let me tell you the evidence,
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what we know so far
about air pollution in our brain.
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First, there is an emerging
body of evidence
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regarding the potential harmful effects
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of air pollutants
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into our central nervous system.
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But let's go back to the toxic particles.
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Remember?
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We left them at the lungs,
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enjoying life,
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polluting everything.
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But now the smallest of them,
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they can cross into the bloodstream,
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and from the bloodstream,
pumped by the heart,
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they can reach the whole body,
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threatening every organ,
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including the brain.
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We used to say that
air pollution has no borders,
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and it's true as well within our bodies,
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because air pollutants will cross
the placental barrier
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and reach the fetus and alter
the cerebral cortex of our children
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even before they take their first breath.
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Second, several studies have suggested
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that both prenatal and early childhood
long-term exposure to air pollution
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will have a negative influence
on neural development,
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will have lower cognitive test outcomes,
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and there will be an influence as well,
a negative influence,
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on some behavioral disorders like autism
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and attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder.
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In addition to that, some evidence found
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that exposing our children's
and young adults' brains
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for a long time to particulate matter
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will cause some reactions
like brain inflammation,
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altering the neural response
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and [also] leading to the influence
of more protein plaques
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that are accumulating,
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and those can increase
the risks for diseases
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like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
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Ironic, isn't it:
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we are investing in our children's future,
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we are sending them to school
every day to expand their minds,
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the society is investing
in their education,
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and yet the air they breathe
while waiting for the school bus
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is influencing negatively
the development of their brain.
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Let's go to the third: What about adults?
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According to recent scientific evidence,
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long-term exposure to particulate matter
will cause a cognitive decline
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in study participants as they age.
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And not only that,
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if you expose them to long-term,
very fine particulate matter,
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their brain will age more rapidly,
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and they will have higher odds
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of having small, silent strokes.
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The last one -- and I will not
give you more evidence,
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because there is a ton of [it] --
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some epidemiological studies
in animal models
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have suggested that there might be
an increased risk of dementia
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with sustained exposure to air pollutants.
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So, almost everybody
is exposed to air pollution.
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Whether you live in a rural area
or an urban area,
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whether you live in a high-income country
or a low-income country,
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everybody's brains, including yours,
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are at risk.
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As a medical doctor,
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I have been dedicating
the last more than 20 years now
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of my professional life
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to raise awareness about
public health issues,
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public health risks,
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at the World Health Organization,
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and I know that the knowledge is there
and the solutions as well.
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Sure, some places
are more polluted than others,
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but this a global issue,
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and no individual, no city,
no group, no country, no region
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will be able to solve it alone.
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We need very strong commitments
and very strong action by everyone:
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civil society,
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private sector,
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even individuals.
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We all have a role to play.
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Yes, we need to influence
the way we consume,
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the way we commute,
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the way we use our energy.
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And the good thing is that
all of those solutions are available.
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The question is, if we postpone
action by one day,
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there might be thousands
of lives that we will lose,
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but if we postpone it by one year,
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we might be losing again seven million.
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So every policy maker, every politician,
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needs to be aware of
the consequences on human health
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of postponing their decisions.
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In fact,
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this is not the first time in history
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that we are confronted
with the risks of this invisible killer.
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This was London in 1952,
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and as was done in London
in the '50s and the '60s,
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governments and cities,
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they need to take urgent action to stop
the terrible impact of air pollution.
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Every politician must know that delaying
what they call the tough actions,
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like reducing traffic in cities
or investing in public transport
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and engaging in promoting
cycling in cities,
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investing in renewable energy,
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promoting cleaner energy
for cooking, cooling
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and transportation and heating
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are solutions that are very smart,
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because, in fact, they reduce emissions,
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they improve air quality
in line with WHO standards,
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which are the standards
that will protect ourselves.
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So in fact, all politicians that we need
these very strong political commitments
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and political will from,
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but [we need] all of them now.
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Those who fail, who postpone action,
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they have been requested even
to defend their position in court.
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And from now on,
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no politician will be able
to say, "I didn't know."
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So the question here is:
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How many lives,
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loss of quality of life
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and losing our brain power
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are we ready to accept?
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If the answer is "none,"
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I will request that you,
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while our brains are still functioning,
while we are still intelligent,
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please exercise your right,
put pressure on your politicians
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and make sure that they take action
to stop the sources of air pollution.
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This is the first thing we need to do
to protect yourself
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and to protect our beautiful brain.
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Thank you very much.
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(Applause)