Greenpeace: Cost to Economy Due to Air Pollution Analysis 2021

• Be N By IAS, Delhi
• 18, Feb 2021

For : GS-3: Environment

CONTEXT:

Over 120,000 people died in India (54000 in Delhi alone) in 2020 as a result of air pollution and related problems, according to the Greenpeace Southeast Asia Analysis of IQAir data.

ABOUT GREENPEACE REPORT:

The report titled “Greenpeace: Cost to Economy Due to Air Pollution Analysis 2021” was released by Greenpeace, a global climate action advisory group, on Thursday.

KEY FINDINGS OF THE REPORT:

1. DEATH DUE TO AIR POLLUTION:
   1. India:
      • Air pollution claimed approximately 54,000 lives in Delhi in 2020.
      • Six Indian cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Lucknow — feature in the global analysis.
      • Delhi tops the most populous cities in the world.
   2. Globally:
      • Globally, approximately 1,60,000 deaths have been attributed to PM (particulate matter) 2.5 air pollution in the five most populous cities — Delhi, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Shanghai and Tokyo.
2. COST ESTIMATOR:
   • ‘Cost Estimator’, an online tool that estimates the real-time health impact and economic cost from fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) air pollution in major world cities, was deployed in a collaboration between
     • Greenpeace Southeast Asia,
     • IQAir and
     • Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
   • Working: Using real-time ground-level PM 2.5 measurements collated in IQAir’s database, the algorithm applies scientific risk models in combination with population and public health data to estimate the health and economic costs of air pollution exposure.
   • Greenpeace said that of the 28 global cities studied, Delhi bore the highest economic cost of air pollution with an estimated loss of 24,000 lives in the first half of 2020 despite a strict COVID-19 lockdown.

1. COST TO ECONOMY
   • ‘Willingness-to-pay’ approach: To show the impact of air pollution-related deaths on the economy, the approach used by Greenpeace is called ‘willingness-to-pay’ — a lost life year or a year lived with disability is converted to money by the amount that people are willing to pay in order to avoid this negative outcome, a release from Greenpeace said.
   • Economic losses: The cost estimator also sustained the estimated air pollution-related economic losses of ₹1,23,65,15,40,000 in six Indian cities.
2. NO TIME TO LOSE
   • Reprieve in air quality due to lockdown: “Despite a temporary reprieve in air quality owing to the lockdown, the report underscore the need to act immediately.
     • The need of the hour is to rapidly scale up renewable energy,
     • bring an end to fossil fuel emissions and
     • boost sustainable transport systems,”
3. REASON FOR AIR POLLUTION:
   • Vehicular pollution is the single biggest reason for deteriorating air quality in India’s IT capital (Bengaluru), followed by construction and other reasons, according to the government.

GREENPEACE:

• Greenpeace is a non-governmental, environmental organization with offices in over 55 countries HQ: Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
• Established: Greenpeace was founded in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, Canadian and US ex-pat environmental activists.
• Goal: To "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity"
• Focus Area: Climate change, deforestation, overfishing, commercial whaling, genetic engineering, and anti-nuclear issues
• Greenpeace has a general consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

SOURCE: The Hindu

MCQs:

Q. Report titled “Cost to Economy Due to Air Pollution Analysis 2021” was released by

• a) Greenpeace
• b) UNEP
• c) UNDP
• d) NITI Aayog

ANS: A