Pollution is really killing us

A quarter of premature deaths and illnesses in the world are linked to man-made pollution. This is the alarm raised by the UN in the Global Environment Outlook (GEO), the report on the state of the planet. Emissions linked to atmospheric pollution and chemicals that have contaminated drinking water put the ecosystem that guarantees the survival of billions of people at risk. A problem that also affects the global economy.

The analysis of the UN GEO was carried out thanks to the contribution of 250 scientists in 70 countries with a work that lasted six years. Researchers have highlighted the gap between rich and poor countries: over-consumption, polluting products and waste in the North of the world bring hunger, poverty and disease to the South. As greenhouse gas emissions increase, climate change, drought and storms risk further damages on the lives of billions of people.

In this context, the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement aims to limit global warming to the 2°C threshold. But the impacts of pollution, deforestation and industrialized food chain are less known. And there is no international agreement on the environment that is equivalent to that of Paris on the climate.

The UN GEO report uses hundreds of sources to calculate the impact of the environment on some diseases to draw up a series of urgent health goals. «Mediocre» conditions are linked to «about 25% of world deaths and diseases», the GEO study said. Around 9 million deaths are related to pollution in 2015.

Problems include the lack of access to drinking water for 1.4 million people who lose their lives every year due to pathologies that could be avoided such as, for example, diarrhea or parasites in contaminated water. The UN remembers how long these damages have long-term effects on our lives. Chemicals released into the sea are harmful «for several generations» and 3.2 billion people live on lands ruined by intensive agriculture and deforestation.

UN researchers also report that air pollution causes 6 to 7 million premature deaths a year. Furthermore, the excessive use of antibiotics in food products could give rise to resistant bacteria that could become the first cause of premature deaths as early as 2050. «We need urgent and ample actions to counter this situation», the report of the UN warned. Without a reorganization of the world economy towards more sustainable production, the concept of growth could become meaningless also due to the increase in deaths and the increase in health costs.

«The message is that a healthy planet supports global growth but also the lives of the poorest people who need unpolluted air and clean water - explains Joyeeta Gupta, co-president of GEO - Otherwise a system in poor health causes enormous damage to the lives of men».

The UN study reports that the situation can still be recovered by limiting CO2 emissions and the use of pesticides. Even food waste could be reduced as 56% of expired foods are barred in the richest countries. «From here to 2050 we will have to feed 10 billion people but this does not mean that we have to double production - Gupta explains - But this must also lead to changing lifestyles».