How to fight the next threat to our world: air pollution

Air pollution affects 99% of the global population and causes seven million deaths annually. The author calls for world leaders to adopt the World Health Organization's Global Air Quality Guidelines, increase public health awareness, and transition to renewable energy to reduce health burdens and economic losses, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

• Air pollution is a pervasive global threat affecting 99% of the world's population daily, causing seven million deaths per year and reducing average life expectancy by more than two years.
• Adhering to the World Health Organization’s Global Air Quality Guidelines, specifically by reducing fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from fossil fuels and wood, could prevent 3.3 million deaths (an 80% reduction in PM2.5-linked deaths).
• The economic impact of PM2.5 pollution was estimated by the World Bank at $8.1 trillion in 2019, representing 6.1% of global GDP.
• Low- and middle-income countries are disproportionately affected, accounting for 91% of premature deaths linked to all outdoor air pollutants due to a higher reliance on inefficient fossil-fuelled energy and vehicles.
• In the UK, aligning the Environment Act with WHO science could lead to meeting interim guidelines by 2030, potentially reducing coronary heart disease cases by 3,000 annually and providing £380 billion in benefits between 2018 and 2034.

APA

Neira, M. (2022). How to fight the next threat to our world: air pollution. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/how-to-fight-air-pollution-the-next-global-threat/

Chicago

Neira, Maria. How to fight the next threat to our world: air pollution. World Economic Forum, 2022. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/how-to-fight-air-pollution-the-next-global-threat/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Neira |first1=Maria |title=How to fight the next threat to our world: air pollution |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=7 September 2022 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/how-to-fight-air-pollution-the-next-global-threat/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{neira2022how, author = {Neira, Maria}, title = {{How to fight the next threat to our world: air pollution}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2022}, month = sep, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/how-to-fight-air-pollution-the-next-global-threat/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }