Scientists from five national academies of science and medicine have evaluated data on health and environmental impacts of air pollution. They found that air pollution causes 7 million avoidable deaths each year. A solution had to be presented, so they created a pact which urges concrete measures that must be carried out to avoid the risks of air pollution to human health. If the world adopts the means to tackle air pollution outlined in the pact, it could prevent millions of deaths each year.
The declaration from the science academies of Germany, Brazil, and South Africa, and the science and medicine academies of the United States was made at the UN headquarters in New York. It calls for a global pact to adopt pollution-curbing policies and technologies. “This call is underpinned by unequivocal scientific evidence on the health impacts of air pollution,” the joint statement proclaimed.
All the data collected to draft up the document came from studies published in recent decades on the impacts of air pollution on human health and the environment. Experts appointed by the academies analyzed all the information and compiled it into one comprehensive report.
Paulo Saldiva, a researcher from the University of São Paulo’s Faculty of Medicine, who helped draft the report, said:
This is the first time that science academies from several countries have joined together in a common project to produce a call like this.
According to the UN Environment, the global environmental authority, air pollution causes around 7 million avoidable deaths each year, mainly women, older people, children, and poor people. Air pollution can even affect the brain development of children, in addition to causing severe health conditions, including heart disease, asthma, diabetes, and cancer.
Luiz Davidovich, president of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, told SciDev.Net:
The agreement proposes the recognition of the right to clean air and a more effective articulation that guarantees the development of air pollution control strategies that help catalyse investments for the promotion of more sustainable policies.
The academies have prepared another declaration that will be presented at the UN Climate Summit in New York in September. In which they urge all countries to implement industrial emissions controls and air monitoring systems. Furthermore, they recommend that the successes of individual cities and countries be shared whenever possible to help those struggling to improve air quality.
The scientists found that the leading causes of air pollution are fossil fuel and biomass combustion, which are used for energy generation, heating, cooking, transport, and agriculture. Pollution from fossil fuels is particularly harmful to humans because it contains large amounts of particulate material — especially that with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5), which tends to stay longer in the air than heavier particles. These particles are small enough that when they enter the body, they can penetrate the lungs and may even pass into the bloodstream.
Paulo Artaxo from the University of São Paulo’s Institute of Physics, which helped collect and analyze data for the report, said:
These particles damage the lungs, heart, brain, skin and other organs, increasing the risk of diseases and disabilities.
Not only that, but the burning of fossil fuels is also bad for the environment as it’s the source of two of the leading greenhouse gases: methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2), whose accumulation in the atmosphere is associated with climate change. “If we control this burning, climate change would also be reduced and it would help to achieve the objective of limiting average global warming to 1.5°C,” explained Artaxo, referring to the global climate goals set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement. Following through with this action alone would avoid 2.4 million deaths, the report says.
Another suggestion was to end tax subsidies for the production and consumption of fossil fuels. Such alternative policies would reduce the products of combustion explained Davidovich. According to data from the Institute of Socioeconomic Studies, based in Brasília, such subsidies amounted to around US$21.2 billion in 2018 in Brazil alone. The money saved from eliminating subsidies could be directed towards policies to stimulate clean energy production and pollution control technologies and infrastructure instead said Saldiva.
Tackling air pollution can also save trillions of dollars in healthcare bills. “In addition, this economic burden also adds healthcare costs that can even consume all national health budgets in developing countries,” Davidovich said. The declaration estimated that in 2015, diseases caused by air pollution in 176 countries cost US$3.8 trillion!
Biologist William Laurance, a research professor at James Cook University, Australia, who did not participate in the report, was very impressed by the declaration. He believes that an initiative such as this “is timely and vital for human wellbeing.” Developing nations have it worst. In particular, Asian cities, especially in India, Pakistan, and China, have the worst air quality on the planet. He said:
Living in these places is like smoking a pack of cigarettes a day! “It’s great to see Brazil, Germany and the United States pushing this initiative, but it will be good to have strong Asian partners too.
