PM2.5 air pollution behind an estimated 160,000 deaths in world’s 5 biggest cities in 2020
Jakarta, Indonesia,: PM2.5 air pollution was behind approximately 160,000 deaths in the world’s five most populous cities in 2020, according to a Greenpeace Southeast Asia analysis of IQAir data from a live Cost Estimator [1] [2]. While some cities saw small improvements in air quality as a result of COVID-19 lockdowns, the devastating impact of air pollution underscores the need to rapidly scale up clean energy, build electrified, accessible transport systems and end reliance on fossil fuels.
“When governments choose coal, oil and gas over clean energy, it’s our health that pays the price. Air pollution from burning fossil fuels increases our likelihood of dying from cancer or stroke, suffering asthma attacks and of experiencing severe COVID-19. We can’t afford to keep breathing dirty air when the solutions to air pollution are widely available and affordable,” said Avinash Chanchal, climate campaigner at Greenpeace India.
Delhi sustained an estimated 54,000 avoidable deaths due to PM2.5 air pollution in 2020, or one death per 500 people. Jakarta suffered an estimated 13,000 avoidable deaths due to PM2.5 air pollution in 2020 and sustained air pollution-related losses of USD 3.4 billion, equivalent to 8.2% of the city’s total GDP.
In 2020, the estimated economic cost of PM2.5 air pollution exceeded USD 5 billion in 14 cities included in the analysis. Of the included cities, the highest estimated total financial cost from air pollution was recorded in Tokyo, which suffered approximately 40,000 avoidable deaths and an economic loss of USD 43 billion due to PM2.5 air pollution in 2020. Los Angeles recorded the highest per capita financial cost of PM2.5 air pollution of all cities on the estimator, at approximately USD 2,700 per resident.
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Source: greenpeace.org
