(MENAFN- 3BL) IWBI President and CEO Rachel Hodgdon launched the Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air in-person to more than 300 individuals at the United Nations on September 23 and to a worldwide audience online.

This landmark initiative unites the world's foremost alliance of global leaders working together to address one of the most overlooked public health challenges of our time: the air we breathe indoors.

Read her full remarks below or watch the recording of the High-Level Side Event on UN Web TV (event begins at 53:30), Healthy Indoor Air: A Global Call to Action .

To learn more about the Global Commission, read the press release and visit the website .

Friends,

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

These prescient words from Margaret Mead remind us of the profound power that comes from people uniting behind a common cause. Mead articulated what we all know in our bones: that when we come together with purpose, when we collaborate across boundaries, we can be the drivers of transformation. We can reshape markets. We can disrupt the status quo. And most importantly, we can change lives.

It's the same ethos that drives our work at the International WELL Building Institute, the leading organization advancing the global movement for healthier buildings, organizations and communities. And it's why I'm so honored to be here today, at this historic gathering at the United Nations during Climate Week, to confront one of the most defining (yet too often overlooked) challenges of our time - the quality of the air that we breathe indoors.

For too long, the world has treated indoor air as invisible, secondary or even an afterthought. And yet we spend 90 percent of our lives inside buildings. The quality of the air that we breathe in those spaces is directly tied to our health, to our ability to learn and to work and to our collective resilience in the face of climate change. Poor indoor air is linked to heart disease, respiratory illness, asthma, allergies, diminished cognitive performance and lost productivity. And the burden is not shared equally. We know that children, the elderly and low-income communities bear the heaviest costs.

But today marks a seismic moment. A turning point. A new era of recognition, coordination and action.

On this very day, we have proudly signed the Global Pledge for Healthy Indoor Air - a seminal rallying point that underscores our shared commitment and collective responsibility to make clean air indoors a universal right. And building on that momentum, it is my privilege to announce the launch of the Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air: a first-of-its-kind, high-level coalition of nearly 170 world-renowned experts, scientists, public health leaders and industry pioneers in building design, real estate, manufacturing and technology, representing nearly 35 countries. In short, this is the world's foremost alliance of global leaders united to advance healthy indoor air.

We are proud that this group of distinguished Commissioners has stepped up to do the hard work: inform decision-makers, accelerate innovation, unlock new sources of funding, shape policy and raise public awareness so that the health, economic and societal benefits of healthy indoor air are recognized, prioritized and realized at scale.

By coming together to develop a Global Framework for Action and support the creation of national blueprints, the Commission will draw attention to this urgent issue, build a steady drumbeat of awareness, and work to catalyze the policies, investments and innovations that can ensure everyone, everywhere has access to clean, healthy indoor air.

Imagine a world where every school, workplace, hospital, place of worship and home lives up to that promise-where we can be assured that the air we breathe is helping us thrive, not making us sick. That world is possible. And together, with the Commission's leadership, today's global leadership and the collective will in this room, that world is within reach. ... And I'll close by saying that:

This is our moment. Let us seize it - to protect our health, to unlock human potential and to safeguard a healthy, sustainable future for generations to come.

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