Impact of pollution felt around the world

HERE’S the dilemma faced by finance ministers in Asia and Africa: They want to see their economies developing swiftly so that more people can be lifted by employment out of poverty, leading to the higher tax revenues that will pay for the improved public services that result in better health and living standards.

But, as the latest Lancet study on global pollution levels makes terrifyingly clear, the race to industrialise — as understandable as it undoubtedly is — creates catastrophic health risks.

The study — conducted by the world’s leading experts – found that environmental pollution, from foul air to filthy water, is now a bigger cause of death than war, hunger, natural disasters, malaria, and smoking. It estimates that, globally, one out of every six premature deaths could be attributed to disease from toxic exposure. What a dreadful waste of life — and money. The report estimates the annual financial cost of pollution-related death, sickness, and welfare at $4.6 trillion, equal to over 6% of the global economy.

The challenge is at its most life-threatening and visible in India and China, countries which do not take kindly to being told to go green by the West. These, however, are the regions where people are at the greatest risk, with 2.5m premature deaths in 2015 in India, followed by China, with an estimated 1.8m attributed to pollution-related ailments.

More — much, much more — needs to be done to encourage countries with emerging economies to make pollution control a priority. There is certainly an awareness in Asian capitals of the problem. China wants “to make our skies blue again”, says its government, but shows no signs of success. In India, where a New Delhi court ban on Diwali firework sales was ignored, there is little, if any, action to control crop burning, garbage fires, construction dust, and the cavalier use of the dirtiest fossil fuels. In Sub-Saharan Africa, air and soil pollution monitoring systems are conspicuously absent.

These regions can reasonably ask what Europe has to boast about. Yes, we’ve got lead out of petrol, but diesel is the new lead. In the West, air pollution is less visible, but it’s still a killer. Britain, according to the Lancet study, has one of the worst records of pollution death of any country in Europe. Some 50,000 deaths last year in the UK could be blamed on toxic air and man-made chemicals. Almost 40m people in the UK are living in areas where air pollution from diesel vehicles exceeds safe, legal levels.

In Western Europe, only Belgium has a worse record than the UK, where Whitehall has lumbered ill-equipped and floundering local authorities with the task of producing air pollution action plans. It’s an Irish problem, too. Air pollution costs the country €2bn a year, including the loss of 382,000 workdays, says the European Commission.

No expense, no effort, was spared when the planet faced the threat posed by Aids, and Africa was plagued by the ebola virus. A response of equal or greater measure to the pollution threat is needed now.