Speaking to The Times of India on the sidelines of the ongoing COP 25 meet in Madrid, the World Health Organisation (WHO) rebuked Javadekar for his statement about air pollution, with officials of the body saying, “We wish it didn’t kill people but unfortunately it does."

Dr Maria Neira, WHO director (public health) told The Times of India that the levels of air pollution in certain cities of India are very high and that this was definitely having an impact on the health of citizens. Neira stressed that there was evidence available for it and urged intervention by the Indian government.

WHO's Climate Lead Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum said that they had analysed numerous studies which showed the effect of air pollution on the population of the world and that India was not immune to it.