Fossil fuel pollution costs world $8bn a day – study

The global cost of air pollution caused by fossil fuels is $8bn a day, or roughly 3.3% of the entire world’s economic output, an environmental research group said last week. According to a Mail & Guardian Online report, the study from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Greenpeace Southeast Asia is the first to assess the global cost of air pollution specifically from burning oil, gas and coal. ‘We found that the China Mainland, the US and India bear the highest costs from fossil fuel air pollution worldwide, an estimated $900bn, $600bn and $150bn per year, respectively,’ the report said. Particles thrown off by fossil fuel usage account for 4.5m premature deaths each year around the globe, including 1.8m in China and a m i l l i o n in India, the researchers found. ‘Air pollution from fossil fuels is a threat to our health and our economies that takes millions of lives and costs us trillions of dollars,’ said Minwoo Son, clean air campaigner at Greenpeace East Asia. ‘But this is a problem that we know how to solve: by transitioning to renewable energy sources, phasing out diesel and petrol cars, and building public transport,’ he added.