4.5 million premature deaths every year and $2,900 billion, equivalent to 3.3 per cent of global GDP. That is the cost of pollution from fossil fuels.
Every year it is estimated that approximately 4.5 million premature deaths globally are attributable to air pollution produced by the combustion of coal, oil and gas, which increases the number of chronic illnesses every year, contributing to millions of medical visits and billions of sick days. This is the finding of the report "Toxic air: the cost of fossil fuels", produced by Greenpeace Southeast Asia and Crea (Centre for research on energy and clean air) — it represents a first attempt to assess the global cost of air pollution linked to fossil fuels.
"Air pollution threatens our health and our economy, causing millions of premature deaths every year and increasing the risks of heart attack, lung cancer and asthma, with an economic cost of trillions of dollars," said Minwoo Son, from Greenpeace Southeast Asia's Clean air campaign.
The 4.5 million premature deaths estimated every year globally are more than three times the number of deaths caused by road accidents. Exposure to PM2.5 is also associated with cases of stroke, and according to the data, as many as 600,000 deaths from heart attack every year are attributable to exposure to fine particles produced by the combustion of fossil fuels. Around 40,000 deaths of children under the age of 5 — primarily in lower-income countries — are also associated with this type of pollution, as are approximately 2 million premature births per year.
Every year, approximately 4 million new cases of childhood asthma are associated with NO2, produced by emissions from vehicles, power plants and industry, with an estimated 16 million children worldwide affected by this condition.
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Air pollution caused by fossil fuels also costs approximately $2,900 billion per year worldwide, equivalent to 3.3 per cent of global GDP. Exposure to PM2.5 generated by fossil fuels alone is linked, every year at a global level, to 1.8 billion sick days, with a resulting annual economic loss of approximately $101 billion.
Mainland China, the United States and India bear the highest costs of air pollution, at $900 billion, $600 billion and $150 billion per year respectively.
The situation is also critical for Italy, where the cost of air pollution from fossil fuels is estimated at approximately 56,000 premature deaths and $61 billion per year.
"It is essential that the Italian government does not backtrack on the phase-out of coal by 2025, as the latest version of the Pniec would appear to suggest," comments Federico Spadini, from Greenpeace Italia's transport campaign. "We need to move with courage and determination towards renewable energy, abandoning false solutions such as fossil gas. And major private actors such as banks and insurance companies must also stop providing funding to fossil fuels," Spadini concludes.
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Solutions exist; among them, the energy transition towards a system based on renewables and the phasing out of internal combustion engine vehicles take centre stage.
According to a study published by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, every dollar invested under the United States Clean air act generated a return of at least 30 dollars. Similarly, according to another study published in the Journal of Urban Health, every dollar invested in Bogotá, Colombia, in the "one car-free day a week" initiative produced between $3.20 and $4.30 in health benefits. Economic benefits arising from the reduction of this type of air pollution are observable in both high-income and low-income countries.
