Page 33 - U4SSC Factsheet, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, June 2020

• Food and yard waste accounts for a large portion of household waste stream and when thrown into
regular trash it ends up in landfills, where it contributes to air pollution. Residents and businesses
should be encouraged to discard such waste appropriately and to mulch it instead of burning it.

• The use of wood stoves should be limited and compliance of any such stoves with current emissions
standards should be made a requirement.
• Diesel emissions should be reduced by mandating that older engines be replaced with newer and
greener ones.
• Residents should be encouraged to take public transport, especially during pollution alerts.

• Efforts should be made to shift consumer behaviour toward sustainable preferences and practices
through public education and information initiatives by the government.
• Emission standards for small gasoline powered equipment, e.g. lawn mowers, gardening equipment,
generators and chainsaws, should be adopted.

• Any businesses that are sources of volatile organic compounds should be regulated.
• Lastly, all sources of particulate matter in the city should be studied as part of a comprehensive
approach, and cross-border action with other cities and regions should be coordinated.

Optimizing air quality: An integrated approach to climate change and air pollution should be considered
to reduce the risks of applying climate change measures with significant negative impacts on air quality.
Continual cooperation with other levels of government is also important, as air pollution is not just
a local problem. As transboundary sources are often major contributors to urban pollution, many
cities or regions are unable to continue meeting WHO guideline levels for air pollutants through local
action alone.

Recommendations such as ITU-T Y.4207: ‘Requirements and capability framework of smart environmental
monitoring’ and Y.4700/F.747.2: ‘Deployment guidelines for ubiquitous sensor network applications
and services for mitigating climate change’ can be of significant help in smart sustainable cities’ efforts
to monitor and mitigate air pollution.

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