PARIS: The global cost of air pollution caused by fossil fuels is $8 billion a day, or roughly 3.3 per cent of the world’s GDP, an environmental research group said on Wednesday.
The findings from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Greenpeace Southeast Asia are the first to assess the global cost of air pollution specifically from burning oil, gas and coal.
“We found that the China Mainland, the United States and India bear the highest costs from fossil fuel air pollution worldwide, an estimated $900 billion, $600 billion and $150 billion per year, respectively,” the report said.
Particles thrown off by fossil fuel use account for 4.5 million premature deaths each year around the globe, including 1.8 million in China and a million in India, the researchers found.
The new figure is in line with World Health Organization (WHO) estimates of 4.2 million deaths each year linked to ground-level air pollution, mostly from heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections in children.
“Air pollution from fossil fuels is a threat to our health and our economies that takes millions of lives and costs us trillions of dollars,” said Minwoo Son, clean air campaigner at Greenpeace East Asia.
The global cost for 2018 was $2.9 trillion, the report estimated.
“But this is a problem that we know how to solve: by transitioning to renewable energy sources, phasing out diesel and petrol cars, and building public transport.”
The 44-page report breaks down the global burden of fossil fuel-driven air pollution — measured in economic costs and premature deaths — by type of pollutant and by country.
Each year the global economy takes $350 billion and $380 billion hits from nitrogen dioxide (NO2) — a byproduct of fossil fuel combustion in vehicles and power plants — and ozone, respectively, according to middle-ground estimates. — AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
