Air pollution blamed for over 500,000 premature annual deaths
Asia’s rapid economic expansion in the pastdecade has turned its skies into some of world’s most pollutedand is blamed for more than 500,000 premature deaths annually,delegates told a clean air conference.
Some 900 experts and government officials from 20 countriesmeeting in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta urged the region toimpose tighter regulations on emissions, boost investment inpublic transport and introduce fuel efficiency standards totackle air pollution.
“There are hundreds of millions of children and adultssuffering from air pollution in Asia,” Andrew Steers, the WorldBank’s country director in Indonesia, said Wednesday. “It’s notnecessary and it’s our job to do something about it.”
Increased burning of coal to fuel the red-hot economies ofIndia and China, the millions of new vehicles clogging the roadsin places like Manila and Jakarta and haze-inducing land clearingfires on Borneo island were cited as the main reasons for thedirty air.
Pollution is having an economic effect in some countries.China recently estimated that bad air was cutting into the country’s growth and Hong Kong expressed fears that pollutiondrifting over from China is scaring off investors and tourists.
The World Health Organization said increased outdoor pollutionin Asia is estimated to be causing as many as 537,000 prematuredeaths each year, as well as a rise in cardiopulmonary andrespiratory illnesses.
“We can improve health by improving air quality,” said theWHO’s Michal Krzyzanowski, noting a study in Dublin where a 1990ban on coal resulted in a 15 percent drop in cardiac deaths.
The three-day meeting is not expected to produce any bindingagreements, but government officials from 17 countries areexpected to acknowledge the need to crack down on a problem that”is a serious threat to the well-being of people in the region,”according to a draft of the final statement seen by TheAssociated Press.
They will also embrace calls for harmonizing fuel efficiencyand vehicle emission standards across the region, increased useof clean and renewable energy and the building of energy-efficient homes and buildings.