Pollution still kills nine million people a year worldwide, a committee of researchers has calculated in the scientific journal The Lancet Planetary Health. The scientists compared the number of premature deaths from various forms of pollution in 2019 with the number in 2015. Their conclusion is that hardly any change can be observed. Roughly one in six deaths worldwide can be attributed to exposure to harmful substances, according to the scientists.
Air pollution is the biggest problem. Three quarters of the nine million deaths can be attributed to this. Polluted water claimed nearly 1.4 million lives, lead pollution led to 900,000 premature deaths and workplace accidents involving hazardous substances killed an additional 870,000 worldwide.
“With a few exceptions, little has been done to address this health crisis,” the scientific committee said. There is a lack of both attention and money to tackle the problems.
The researchers point out that measures to combat pollution often also contribute to the fight against climate change. They therefore propose to fully focus on the energy transition, because fossil fuels pollute the air and cause CO2 emissions.
The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health, as the club calls itself, further points out that the pain has not been distributed fairly. Of all the people who died prematurely from pollution in 2019, 92 percent lived in countries with relatively much lower and middle incomes.