Nine out of ten people worldwide breathe polluted air. This causes millions of deaths every year, especially in developing countries, where even indoor air is not clean.
"If money can't buy happiness, imagine what poverty can do," as Totò, the prince of laughter, used to say. And he wasn't entirely wrong. Ninety per cent of deaths caused by air pollution occur in poor countries, especially in Africa and Asia.
The most polluted cities are New Delhi, in India, and Cairo, in Egypt, where levels of pm10 — harmful particulate matter — are ten times higher than those considered acceptable by the World Health Organisation (WHO); they are followed by Dhaka, Mumbai and Beijing. Nin low- and middle-income countries, the air in 97 per cent of cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants fails to meet quality requirements, a figure that drops to 49 per cent in wealthy countries. This was revealed by the WHO itself, which examined data collected in more than 4,300 locations across 108 countries worldwide.
Overall, 9 out of 10 people worldwide breathe polluted air, and the main causes are traffic and industry; but in developing countries there is an additional problem: 3 billion inhabitants burn wood, coal or dung to cook food and heat their homes, producing polluting particulates indoors that, when inhaled, can cause asthma, lung cancer, cardiovascular disease and stroke.
To solve this problem, what is needed is not "major expenditure or infrastructure, but rather a radical change in habits and culture," explains Pippo Ranci, former president of the Authority for Energy (the current Arera). "The greatest success in clean cooking has come through policies promoting the spread of bottled-gas stoves, which is not a renewable source, but is certainly less polluting than wood or charcoal cooking processes," Ranci adds.
Read also: Pippo Ranci. Contro la povertà energetica è necessario investire su cultura e informazione
Air pollution causes the deaths of 7 million people every year, of which 91,000 in Italy. In many European and American locations, pm10 levels fell between 2010 and 2016, fortunately; however, they rose in 70 per cent of poor cities in South and South-East Asia.
Reducing pollution depends on a country's financial resources, but also on citizens' awareness and the government's willingness to act: China offers a positive example, having decided to tackle the problem by every means available, partly because "the inhabitants know that there is a link between air quality and their health," explains Dr Maria Neira, director of the WHO's Department of Public Health.
In Europe, Denmark's public transport will be zero-emission by 2030; from 2040 the United Kingdom will ban the sale of new vehicles fitted with combustion engines, and from 2050 it will halt the circulation of old diesel and petrol cars.
These issues will be discussed from 30 October to 1 November of this year at the first Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health. In the meantime, the BreatheLife campaign aims to engage citizens directly, inviting them to take part in challenges such as leaving the car at home for a month.
Changing our habits requires sacrifices, but the first to benefit — even before the environment — are we ourselves. And it is something that everyone, rich and poor alike, is called upon to do: if we are willing to arrive at the office sweaty after cycling, in developing countries there are people willing to revolutionise their entire energy system. And there are those who can help them.
