WITH AIR pollution having contributed to some 8.1 million deaths in 2021, there is a call for greater investment to effectively tackle the problem as the world celebrates another International Day of Clean Air For Blue Skies this Saturday, September 7.
With the theme ‘Invest in #CleanAirNow’, this year’s observance stresses the need to act with urgency and through collaborative best efforts to overcome global air pollution.
“This year’s observance emphasises the urgent need for stronger partnerships, increased investment, and shared responsibility to combat air pollution,” shares the Clean Air for Blue Skies website, www.cleanairblueskies.org [1].
From the 2024 State of Global Air report, the need to do so appears dire, given the reality of the one in eight deaths to which air pollution contributed in 2021 – a reported 48 per cent from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 30 per cent from lower respiratory infections, and 28 per cent from ischemic heart disease.
Produced by the State of Global Air Initiative – a collaboration between the Health Effects Institute and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s Global Burden of Disease project, in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund – the report also reveals that more than 700,000 deaths in children under five years were linked to air pollution in 2021. This is second only to malnutrition and represents 15 per cent of all global deaths in children under five.
Air pollution also impacts welfare costs and is likely to undermine economic activity.
“The annual global welfare (non-market) costs of premature deaths from outdoor air pollution, calculated using estimates of the individual willingness to pay to reduce the risk of premature death, have been estimated at between US$3 trillion and US$5.7 trillion in 2016. They are projected to rise to between US$18 trillion and US$25 trillion in 2060,” revealed UNEP’s 2021 report Air Pollution Series – Actions on Air Quality – A Global Summary of Policies and Programmes to Reduce Air Quality.
“The World Bank figure of US$5.7 trillion is equivalent to 4.8 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP). By region, the cost in 2016 ranged from an equivalent of 2.3 per cent of GDP in Latin America and the Caribbean to 5.7 per cent in East Asia and the Pacific and 7.3 per cent in South Asia,” it added.
The situation is made worse by the growing climate crisis.
“The threats posed by air pollution have continued to mount as they merge with the threats posed by global climate change and increasingly ageing populations. Many sources of air pollution – including the burning of fossil fuels and biomass – are also contributors to greenhouse gas emissions that are causing our planet to warm,” notes the State of Global Air report.
“As we continue to burn these fuels in our vehicles, power plants, factories, fields, and homes, both air pollution and the impact on our climate grow worse. At the same time, the symptoms of climate change are further exacerbating air pollution. As droughts become more severe and prolonged and land becomes drier, wildfires ravage once-thriving forests and dust storms impact vast plains, filling the air with particles that linger for long periods of time,” it added.
“When summer temperatures soar, airborne pollutants such as nitrogen oxides catalyse with increased vigour, speeding the formation of ozone, which also has health implications. As societies struggle to adapt and limit suffering caused by the changing climate, finding solutions that can address such interconnected challenges is of increasing importance,” it said further.
It is against this background that governments, civil society organisations and individuals are being urged to take action to “invest in clean air for transformative change”.
“If we act now, we can halve global crop losses from air pollutants by 2050. Reducing emissions of methane, an important greenhouse gas and air pollutant, could save between US$4 billion to US$33 billion. The cost of inaction is staggering, with air pollution estimated to cost the global economy US$8.1 trillion per year, equivalent to 6.1 per cent of the global GDP due to increased healthcare costs,” stressed the Clean Air for Blue Skies site.
“The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development highlights the necessity of reducing air pollution to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Ensuring a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is crucial for human rights and well-being,” it added.