A ground-breaking report: economic cost of the health impact of air pollution in Europe
Economic
cost of the health impact of air pollution in Europe is the first
assessment of the economic burden of deaths and diseases resulting from
outdoor and indoor air pollution in the 53 countries of the Region.The economic cost of deaths alone accounts for over US$ 1.4 trillion. Adding another 10% to this, as the cost of diseases from air pollution, results in a total of almost US$ 1.6 trillion. In no less than 10 of the 53 countries of the Region, this cost is at or above 20% of national GDP (see Annex for data by country). The study uses the methodology applied in a 2014 report by OECD and makes the calculations based on the most recent economic estimates of the health impacts of air pollution.
The economic value of deaths and diseases due to air pollution – US$ 1 600 000 000 000 – corresponds to the amount societies are willing to pay to avoid these deaths and diseases with necessary interventions. In these calculations, a value is attached to each death and disease, independent of the age of the person and which varies according to the national economic context.
Air pollution: the single largest environmental health risk
Over
90% of citizens in the Region are exposed to annual levels of outdoor
fine particulate matter that are above WHO's air quality guidelines.
This accounted for 482 000 premature deaths in 2012 from heart and
respiratory diseases, blood vessel conditions and strokes, and lung
cancer. In the same year, indoor air pollution resulted in an additional
117 200 premature deaths, five times more in low- and middle-income
countries than in high-income countries."Reducing air pollution has become a top political priority. Air quality will be a key theme at the next Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference in Georgia in 2016", says Mr Christian Friis Bach, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). "Fifty-one countries are today finding joint solutions in the framework of the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution. This work must be strengthened to reduce air pollution even further and extended to more countries and to other regions."
"About 2500 people are estimated to die in Israel annually as a result of exposure to air pollutants. The main source of air pollution is transportation, mainly in major city centres," says Mr Ofir Akunis, Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Member of Knesset (Parliament) for Israel. "Since 2011, the Ministry of Environmental Protection's Clean Air Law regulates pollutants from major sources such as transport, industry and energy in accordance with the most stringent standards. The Ministry aims to use all available resources to reduce air pollution, as this means saving the lives of thousands of people, as well as billions to the Israeli economy".
Improving environment and health in Europe: how far have we gotten?
The
cost of the health impacts of air pollution is only one of many studies
that will provide evidence on the environmental impacts on health to be
released at the Haifa meeting.Another new report, Improving environment and health in Europe: how far have we gotten? jointly published by WHO and UNECE, informs that one in four Europeans still falls sick or dies prematurely from environmental pollution. Data from several surveys in priority thematic areas such as water and sanitation, air quality, the day-to-day surroundings of children's lives, chemicals and asbestos, climate change and health inequalities all show that while progress has been remarkable, it has been uneven (see Fact Sheet on the report).