CCAC Partners with Medellín Marathon to Celebrate International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies 2025

Medellín, Colombia, 4 June 2025 – Today, on Global Running Day, and ahead of World Environment Day on June 5, the UNEP-convened Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) is pleased to announce a partnership with the Medellín Marathon to celebrate the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies on 7 September 2025. The collaboration will highlight the transformative clean air progress made by the city of Medellín and amplify a global call to action on air pollution and climate.

More than 27,000 runners will participate in this year’s Medellín Marathon, hitting the streets of a city that once struggled under the weight of dangerous air pollution. In just a few years, Medellín has cut fine particulate pollution (PM2.5) by nearly 40 per cent, significantly improving public health outcomes, lowered urban temperatures by more than 2°C, thanks to expansive green corridors and reforestation efforts, and invested heavily in electric public transport and targeted major pollution sources, reducing emissions from traffic, waste burning, and industry.

“This partnership is about more than a race,” said Martina Otto, Head of the CCAC Secretariat. “It’s about momentum, moving together toward a healthier, more sustainable future. Medellín shows that cleaner air and climate action go hand in hand. Let this be an inspiration for all of us, as this marathon is a celebration of the lungs of a city reborn.”

“Running a marathon takes preparation, perseverance, and purpose, the same ingredients we need to tackle air pollution and climate change,” said Gustavo Orozco and Claudia Perez, Directors of the Medellín Marathon. “Together, let’s keep pushing forward, step by step, toward a future where everyone can breathe clean air.”

The Medellín Marathon will serve as a high-profile platform to raise awareness of the links between air pollution, health, and climate change, and comes at a pivotal moment in the fight for cleaner air in the region and globally. Colombia continues to be a clean air leader, having recently hosted the WHO’s Second Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health in March 2025. As cities across the world face growing air pollution challenges, Medellín’s story provides proof that progress is possible.

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NOTES TO EDITORS

About the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC)  

The UNEP-Convened Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) is a partnership of over 200 governments, intergovernmental organizations, and non-governmental organizations. It works to reduce powerful but short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) – methane, black carbon, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and tropospheric ozone – that drive both climate change and air pollution. Co-Chaired by the United Kingdom and Brazil, it aims to connect ambitious agenda setting with targeted mitigation action within countries and sectors. Robust science and analysis underpin its efforts, and bolstered by its Trust Fund, it has given rise to high level political commitment, in-country support, and a range of tools that help make the case for action and support implementation.

For more information, please contact:

Vincent Hughes, Communications and Media Consultant, Climate and Clean Air Coalition Secretariat at United Nations Environment Programme – Vincent.Hughes [at] un.org

Ava Bahrami, Communications Officer, Climate and Clean Air Coalition Secretariat at United Nations Environment Programme – Ava.Bahrami [at] un.org